Return of Gakuen Alice
by ayachan12
Summary: A new year blooms at GA! Mikan is targeted by an organization for some unknown reason and they won't stop until they get her. But then again, there's always ups and downs. chap 11; The school festival is coming up! The night before it, mikan gets kissed?
1. Kidnapped

_First fan fic for GA. Please enjoy!_

**Wanted Alice**

Kidnapped

Mikan was on her way to the SA class, the class she enjoyed the most, as usual. The people there were like a second family to her, considering she was separated from her grandfather. She hummed a cheerful tune, walking slowly among the trees.

"Sakura Mikan."

She turned around, to find the owner of the voice, surprised to see no one there. _Who?_

"…!! Mmph!" her voice was muffled, a hand over her mouth, another one carrying her light body. She squeezed her eyes and struggled, but it was no use—she was caught. She turned her head, to see the kidnapper.

_Tsubasa-senpai?!_ Mikan's eyes widened, shocked to see her senpai kidnapping her. She gasped, as a hand, curled into a fist, landed on her head.

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A blur vision. A vision of a person. A person with red hair. He came back. _To get her._

_Reo…_Mikan thought to herself, peeping cautiously.

"Reo-san, who is that girl?" A voice came from the corner, his face not visible.

"A nullifier." Reo's face turned to meet hers, which was pretending to be asleep. "Her mother, Yuka-senpai has the same ability. She'll be good use to us."

"Why didn't we capture Hyuuga Natsume instead?" the voice asked again.

"This girl would probably come back for him with back up," Reo explained. "Besides, Natsume would cause havoc to us." Reo walked up to the motionless body, and touched her cheek. "She's just like her mother."

_Okaa-san…?_Mikan's eyes twitched, but Reo hadn't noticed.

"What time are they coming?" Reo's voice echoed in Mikan's ears.

"Tomorrow, at 10 a.m."

"Tch. They expect us to wait that long?!" Reo asked, annoyed. It wasn't really a question though.

"Hai…"

"Damn. This way, they might have enough time to figure out where we are," Reo complained. He looked at the girl again. "Oh well," he sighed. His fingers traced Mikan's lips slowly.

Mikan was frustrated at his actions, but was scared he found out she was awake. She ignored his hand and relaxed. Her body was heavy and she felt weak.

"Get out," Reo ordered. "I'll watch over her."

"But, Reo—" the man was interrupted.

"Get out." The men retreated from the room. Reo sat beside the bed she was sleeping on. He sighed in deeply.

_I… I'm in the same situation as Natsume like last time… _Mikan thought to herself, testing her finger movements slowly. _…I can't move well… They've drugged me. What should I do?!_

**Meanwhile…**

"Narumi-sensei!" Tsubasa called loudly as he slammed the door open.

"What is it with these rude kids running everywhere, loudly?!" Jinno protested, irritated.

"It's no time to talk about irritation!" Tsubasa yelled. Misaki was followed behind him, her face pale. Behind Misaki, a group of kids entered.

"What's this about?" Narumi asked, concerned.

"That baka has been kidnapped," Hotaru explained quickly.

"I saw Mikan being kidnapped! A guy with black hair was holding her," Misaki explained. "And then he handed her to a red-haired person." She looked regretful. "But by the time I got to them, they were all gone."

"What?!" Narumi was shocked to hear the news, hearing his daughter-like-student getting kidnapped.

"Red-hair?" a voice asked, coming from behind them. A raven-headed figure leaned on the doorway, listening to their conversation. "Reo?"

"Natsume…" Ruka looked at the motionless—yet irritated—figure. "But you know, even if it were Reo, why would he want Sakura-san?"

"I remember…" Sumire said suddenly, causing everyone to look at her. "…Reo said that Mikan resembles _that person…_" she stopped. She sighed, and continued, "Reo seemed to be interested in her powers, and he told his men to find information on her… He said that they might've gotten something much more interesting…" Sumire looked away, annoyed. "Hmph, who exactly is _that person_ anyway?!"

"_That person…_" Narumi whispered softly.

"Narumi," Jinno called. Narumi nodded his head.

"We'll have to find her," Narumi said. "Hotaru, do you have anything to contact her with?"

Hotaru nodded. "But, if I contact her, it may make a lot of noise." Hotaru sighed. "If that baka figures out how to use the ear phone that's attached to her right ear, it shouldn't be a problem because it's hidden."

Everyone sweat-dropped. Natsume made a 'tch' sound. Mikan wasn't the type to figure those kinds of things out. The last time she had the panda-communicator; it was when Natsume mentioned it to her. She was probably alone this time.

**Mikan's whereabouts…**

"Yuka…" Reo said, as he touched Mikan's hair. He untied the ribbons. "She looks so much like you, senpai."

_What's he doing?! This idiot! _Mikan was annoyed with the guy touching her hair. But she had no other idea on what to do. Confused, she opened her eyes.

"Ah, you're awake," Reo said calmly. Mikan blinked her eyes, acting confused. "We're taking you to join us instead of your violent Natsume," he told her as he raised her chin. "Be happy, we won't target him just yet."

"What are you saying?!" Mikan yelled in disgust as she sat up in a jerk. "Why do we students have to join you?!" It was then; Mikan felt a sharp pain coming from her. To her surprise, she coughed out blood, which dripped onto her clothes.

"Sorry about that," Reo apologized. "We had to drug you so you wouldn't be able to use your alice nor be able to resist." He handed her a white gown, about knee-length.

_What is he planning to do? _Mikan cautiously took the gown, not drifting her gaze from him. _And why did he take away my ribbons?_

"Theres a room there," Reo said as he pointed to a door. "You can change in there but I'll tell you this first," he said as he narrowed his eyes. "You won't be able to get out, considering your powers are no longer in use and there are no windows in that room."

Mikan took another glance at the window before entering the room. Outside the window, there was a huge lake seen, yet it seemed isolated. She entered the room slowly, feeling weak. She wasn't able to neither walk nor breathe properly because of the drug. She closed the door behind her and started to change. Noticing the communicator on her ear, she activated it and whispered.

(Communications with the ear phones)

Mikan: H-Hotaru, can you hear me?

Hotaru: Ah, Mikan, you finally activated the ear phones.

Mikan: Hai, but Hotaru, I've been kidnapped!

Hotaru: I know. Wait for a sec. Narumi wants to talk to you.

Mikan: Sen…sei?

Narumi: Mikan, where are you?

Mikan: I don't know… Nearby a lake or something.

Narumi: Lake?

Mikan: Mm… It's really big but it seems to be as if no one is there…

Narumi: Mikan, is it Reo who kidnapped you?

Mikan: Hai… I'm in a different room now. Reo gave me some clothes to change into.

Narumi: Clothes? What for?

Mikan: My uniform is ... umm... dirty… Anyways, sensei, I need to talk to Tsubasa-senpai.

Narumi: Eh? Ah… Mm… Wait.

Tsubasa: Mikan, are you okay?

Mikan: Tsubasa-senpai… Why did you help Reo?

Tsubasa: Eh? Help Reo? With what?

Mikan: You don't know…?

Tsubasa: No…

Mikan: He must've been using you… Ah...! Crap... I've got to go. Reo is calling me.

Tsubasa: Wait, Mikan!!

(End of conversation)

Mikan left the microphone on while she continued to change. She gasped a few times for air, weakly.

"Mikan," Reo called out her name again, waiting.

"Wait, I'm coming now," she said in between gasps. She was weak and was running out of energy. She walked back groggily to the bed, knowing she couldn't run away.

"Why did you use Tsubasa-senpai to capture me?" Mikan asked, annoyed. Tsubasa and the others, hearing this over the microphone, were shocked. "Ne, Reo, why did you have to involve my friends?"

"He was just in the way so I used him," Reo said flatly. "It was easy to manipulate him with my voice."

Tsubasa's eyes widened as he heard their words. "I was the cause of… this?" Tsubasa asked the rest.

"No, Reo was controlling you," Misaki protested. Tsubasa nodded and continued to listen.

"Please…" Mikan's soft voice was heard. "Please!" she said in a louder, yet weak voice. "Don't get them… Involved… In… This…" Mikan fell onto the bed, unconscious, gasping for air.

"Mikan!" the group yelled, but, wasn't heard by the brunette. They heard a sigh, probably coming from Reo.

"Seriously, you're just like your mother..." he said. "But in some ways, different." Reo went closer, his mouth, beside her left ear. He brushed the hair, and whispered into her ear. "You will obey me, and will not deceive me…"

_Is it okay? Please review! xD_


	2. The Plan

_Okay, thanks for all the reviews for the previous chap… It really motivated me xD _

_I hope you enjoy this chap… Thankyou!_

_Please don't forget to review.._

**The Plan**

"What is he doing?" Koko asked. "Doesn't he know that Sakura can't be affected?"

"That's right…" Narumi said, thoughtful. "Wait, let's listen to their conversation." All of them stayed quiet, listening.

"Hmph, this little girl was seriously annoying till the end," Reo said as he moved away from her ear. "I didn't think we'd have to drug her…"

"Drug her?!" Koko and Ruka gasped. Tsubasa and Misaki narrowed their eyes, Natsume and Horatu twitched, and Narumi sighed in regret. The room was then filled with silence, not a word coming from the microphone, nor the school's students and teachers.

"We have to get that baka back," Natsume said as he broke the silence. "A lake, right?"

"Wait, Natsume," Narumi said as he stopped him, "we have to clues to which lake it is, and we have to go there armed." His face was thoughtful. "There are two lakes that are nearby," he said. "One to the south of this academy and the other to the east." He looked at the students and gritted his teeth. "I'm afraid we're going to have you students get her back. Can you recruit more people?" he asked. "Make sure they have uses." Narumi grabbed a map and explained. He breathed in deeply, and spoke.

"We'll need at least ten people," he said. "Five will go to the south and the other five to the east. Make sure the students are old enough, Tsubasa, Misaki." He looked at Natsume and shook his head. "Natsume, you stay here."

"What?!" Natsume asked, annoyed. "I have more power than these SA class idiots," he said, pointing at Tsubasa.

"What did you say?!" Tsubasa said as he tried to protest.

"Stop it." Narumi looked at both of them sternly. "Anyways Natsume, you're only going if they can't find enough people. In the worst case, these people have to go as well," Narumi said as he pointed at the kids. "So, we'll have Hotaru make communicators so we can communicate each other. If Mikan is at a certain lake, we'll have the other group come there immediately."

"We'll have to get her back at all costs. They've already drugged her so we don't know what they'll do." Narumi checked their faces again. "Understood?"

The students nodded. Tsubasa and Misaki ran out of the classroom, searching for other students, Hotaru got to work, making more communicators, and Narumi thinking of the next strategy.

**Minutes Later…**

Tsubasa and Misaki came back with seven people from the middle school. "Sensei," Tsubasa said, "I think we'd need Sumire to track Mikan."

"EH!?" Sumire squealed. "Me?!" She shook her head vigorously, protesting. "Why would I go for that baka?!"

"It's easier if you did before I hit you," Hotaru threatened as she pointed her Baka gun towards Sumire.

"Eek!" Sumire waved her hands in the air. "I got it! I got it! I'll go!" she screamed. "Jeez…"

Hotaru smirked and handed her a pair of headphones, along with the other group. "So, since we have ten people, Natsume won't have to go," Narumi informed. "Natsume, you'll just have to go to your dorm." Hearing no reply, he looked around the room, searching for the raven-haired boy. "Natsume?"

The flame-alice wasn't there. He was already gone, probably to one of the two lakes. Narumi sighed in defeat and Ruka said his name in concern. "That idiot," Tsubasa said as he rubbed the back of his head. "Even if he had to go, he should've taken a pair of headphones…"

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**Later…**

A moan was heard, coming from her mouth. She was waking up, but her body was still weak and fragile. Her eyes opened slowly, blinking. Her mouth soon whispered, "Reo-sama."

"Mikan?" Tsubasa called from his microphone. "Are you okay? We're coming to get you."

"…" Mikan looked around the room.

"Mikan," Reo called to her. "Come here."

"Hai… Reo-sama," Mikan said as she slowly climbed onto Reo's lap. Her eyes were lightless—dull. There was no life in her usually excited eyes.

"Wait, Mikan!" Tsubasa's voice echoed in her ears, "What are you doing?"

"Obeying my master," she whispered into the microphone.

"Good girl," Reo said as he patted her head, "Now, when you enter the car later, you won't resist, understand?"

"Hai, Reo-sama," Mikan agreed. "Reo-sama, where are we?"

"Bass lake," he answered simply. "You'll be transferred later to our main branch at the organization later so we can train you." He eyed her suspiciously. "You won't disobey us, understood?"

"Hai." Reo called her a good kid, and kissed the top of her head. His _doll _was obedient now, and she couldn't make a fuss. She was under his spell. He was in control now, and she couldn't do anything about it.

"Group 2, join us to bass lake," Tsubasa called, "group 2, I repeat, and go to bass lake."

"Mikan-chan, get away from him," Narumi warned her. "Use your nullification against his voice, so you won't be able to be controlled." Mikan ignored him, unable to go against her _master._ "Mikan-chan!"

"Leo-sama," she chanted, "are you coming with me to the organization?"

"Mm." He played with her hair, bored. Her hair, untied from her pigtails, was smooth and long. This hairstyle suited her better, and she looked more like her mother from before. "Now, just rest," he told her.

"Hai, Reo-sama," she replied. She lied on the bed, shutting her eyes.

"Mikan," Tsubasa called her through the microphone. "We're almost there."

"Hai," she said.

"Mikan, who're you talking to?" Reo asked her, confused.

"Tsubasa-senpai," she replied, unable to go against him.

"Mikan?! What are you saying?!" Tsubasa yelled, angry that she had just blurted out the secret.

"Heh," he said. "And how are you doing that?"

"A microphone on my right ear," she replied, not lying. She was an innocent doll now, not able to lie, not able to be her true self. Reo took the microphone and spoke.

"Hi, Mikan's senpai," Reo spoke, making Tsubasa narrow his eyes. "As you know, my little doll here is a bit occupied at the moment, so you won't be seeing her… Ever again."

"Reo! Why are you after _her _daughter?!" Narumi called.

"Oh, Naru-senpai, you were there?" Reo asked, unsurprised. "She's actually pretty useful, my doll."

"Doll, as in… You don't mean…?" Narumi asked.

"Yea, that's it. She's under my voice," he informed. "It's not like you're going to get her. You don't even know where we are. Say goodbye to your little student." Reo threw the headphones away, causing them to break into pieces and stroked his doll's hair as she drifted to sleep.

"Misaki, did you hear that?" Tsubasa asked through the microphone.

"Hai. He's not expecting us so we'd better hurry up." Misaki was running along with four other students towards the southern lake. "Tsubasa, remember, Natsume might be heading there so you're going to have to control him."

"I know."

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Mikan was sleeping in Reo's lap soundly. Her sleepy eyes remained at peace while her hair was being stroked by her _owner_. There was nothing that could destroy their peace in the quiet room until Reo sighed and called after his helpers.

"Call the organization and tell them we need the transport immediately," he told them.

"Hai, Reo-san, but... Why?" one of them asked.

"Those brats might be coming here soon," Reo told them, annoyed. "She had a microphone in her ear so they might've heard about our area. If we're lucky, they haven't, but we need the transport immediately."

"Okay, we'll call them now."

Reo sat down again and resumed stroking the brunette's hair. "You look too much like your mother," he told the girl who was fast asleep. "You'll be able to escape from the school before they have you work your life out like your petty friend. You won't have to suffer like your mother… You'll just be with the organization."

"Reo-san," one of the guys called.

"What is it?" Leo asked as he stopped stroking the girl's hair.

"They said they'll be here in an hour because they can't take any chances." The voice was heard through the shut door. "If people come to retrieve the nullifier then they said to stall them."

"Ok. Guard the entrance," Reo commanded.

"Understood, Reo-san."

Footsteps of the man walking away were heard. Reo pushed the nullifier onto the bed and sat on the ledge of the bed, watching her. _Her face really resembles her. I guess I'm going to have to take care of her when we get back to the organization._ He sighed in deeply, touching her cheek.

"Get away from her you bastard!"

Reo searched the room for the owner of the threat. A raven-haired boy was on the window, entering. His face showed annoyance and anger.

"Welcome," Reo said, "Natsume."

_Here comes Natsume! But, oh, the chapter has finished... Aww… _

_Haha, I hope this chap was good. Please review. Thank you for reading! Hope you like it. _


	3. Accomplished

_Chapter 3 up!... Enjoy the story! I enjoyed writing this one xD _

_Please don't forget to review… It's the least you could do as a reward for me!_

_xDxDxD_

**Accomplished**

"I said get away from her!" Natsume warned Reo again, a flame appearing on the side of Reo.

"Oh, you don't really want to burn me would you?" Reo asked, smiling slyly. "You don't want to know the consequences do you?" he asked again, placing his hand onto her neck, showing he could strangle her at any moment. The flames beside him didn't disappear. "I'm serious," Reo threatened him.

"You wouldn't do that," Natsume told him, "because you need her."

"Actually I would," Reo warned. "It won't make any difference if she didn't come with us." He smirked. "Now, are you planning to get rid of these flames?" The flames disappeared, and the raven-haired walked closer. Reo injected a drug into the brunette so she would still be unable to use her alice.

"You bastard!" Natsume yelled.

Mikan's eyes opened slowly, still weak from the effects of the drug. She sat up and instantly looked at Reo. "Reo-sama…" Her gaze turned to the area where Reo was looking at. "Natsume…?"

"What the hell are you saying, polka-dots?" Natsume asked as he eyed her suspiciously. "Sama?"

(-sama is used for someone who is really respected, like masters)

"My name…" Mikan said, "…isn't polka-dots." She faced Reo and smiled. "It's Mikan… Right? Reo-sama?"

"Nn," Reo agreed as he gently caressed her head. He was growing fond of his obedient puppet. "As you can see, she's a bit weak right now, and she wants to be with me."

"You drugged her," Natsume said through his gritted teeth. "You bastard… You used your voice pheromone on her, didn't you!?"

"Reo-sama wouldn't do that," Mikan snapped at Natsume, annoyed. "Stop insulting Reo-sama all you want!" Natsume looked taken back with her words. She was protecting her kidnapper, still under his spell. "Besides, I'd gladly allow him to use his voice pheromone on me…but I have this stupid nullification alice!"

"Really?" Natsume asked her. "Then show me." A flame appeared beside her.

Mikan, trying to activate her powers, couldn't. She coughed up blood again, due to forcing her powers. The blood didn't touch her clothes. Instead, her hand was covering her mouth, and was now completely covered in blood. Unable to manage her body, she collapsed.

"Mikan!" Natsume called as he rushed to her side. Reo was already holding onto her in his arms.

"Baka! Don't shout just because someone is insulting me," Reo told her as he wiped the blood from her hand and mouth using his napkin. Soon, Reo noticed his right sleeve was burning. Reo yelled as he jerked his hand away from his '_puppet' _to prevent from burning her.

Natsume took his chance to escape. He grabbed Mikan and carried her bridal-style and crashed through the glass window, jumping. A hand grabbed the back of his shirt, tugging. This caused him to accidentally release the girl from his arms. He was hanging from the second floor. "Mikan!" he yelled as he saw the girl fall into the water, her face facing his, her eyes still shut.

**Splash!**

Immediately, Natsume was pulled back into the building through the window. A man, wearing jet black sunglasses and clothes, slammed Natsume into the wall. "Where is she?" Reo asked. Reo had taken off his shirt, revealing his muscular figure. Natsume glared blankly at him.

Natsume jumped up and burned the cupboard that was nearby and attempted to escape through the window again. Unfortunately, there was a guard that prevented him. The guard grabbed Natsume by the collar, raising him. Natsume was harmless now, due to the barrier. "Now, Natsume," Reo said. "That should be enough attempts. Tell me where you dropped her, or else we'll have to kill you."

"I don't think we can allow you to do that," a voice which came from behind Reo, disagreed. "Now, Riana!" A blonde-haired girl immediately knocked out the person with the barrier-alice with a metal baseball bat.

"Andou…" Natsume said as he looked at the S.A. member. Noticing he could use his alice, Natsume burned the guards. Reo removed his piercing and yelled.

"SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR POWERS!" Natsume's fire disappeared and everyone fell to the ground, powerless. Reo, knowing he was losing this time, gathered his companions and escaped downstairs. His transportation arrived, allowing him to escape from the gakuen alice students.

Natsume forced himself to get up, even though he was under Reo's command. "Andou," he said. Tsubasa's head jerked up, facing the raven-haired boy. "I'm getting polka-dots back." Tsubasa's eyes widened when the brunette was mentioned.

"Where is she?" Tsubasa asked. Natsume ignored him and jumped through the broken window and dived into the deep, blue water. She wasn't there. Natsume could only see fish swimming away from him, afraid of the human. He dived deeper, looking for the unconscious brunette who seemed to be missing. Natsume was annoyed, unable to find his partner.

Then, he saw her. Laying on the surface of the lakebed, unconscious. He scooped her and wrapped her in his arms. Natsume was running out of breath—and she was probably dying, not getting air for all that time. Panicking, Natsume swam quickly towards the surface. _Mikan… Wait… We're almost there. _Natsume gasped for air as his head popped out of the water. Mikan was still unconscious, not breathing.

Natsume swam towards the land quickly, carrying Mikan on his back. When he arrived to his destination, he immediately put her on the grass and unbuttoned two buttons of her gown. He pressed his ear over her chest. Her heart was beating slowly. She was dying. "Mikan!" he yelled as he tried to pump her chest. It wasn't working. She wasn't breathing. "Mikan!" He opened her mouth, and put his on hers, breathing air into it. He removed his mouth and looked at her anxiously.

_cough cough cough_

Mikan coughed up the water, along with her blood. Natsume panicked, and looked at her face. She was breathing… "Mikan…" he said as he pulled her to his chest and hugged her. "Thank god."

Natsume walked towards the house, carrying Mikan on his back. A group on ten people was waiting for them. Misaki and Tsubasa, along with seven people called out to them. "Mikan! Natsume!" The other one person—Sumire—was only concerned of one person.

"Natsume-kun! Are you okay?! I can nurse you to health at the hospital! Natsume-kun!!" Sumire blabbed on and on as she waited for Natsume to arrive, next to her. Everyone sweat-dropped at the heartless girl who didn't care about the brunette.

When Natsume reached them, he explained about Mikan's situation to Tsubasa. "Mikan is drugged by Reo… She keeps on coughing out blood and she almost drowned just now. I'm not sure if she's really okay." Tsubasa nodded, took Mikan from Natsume and carried her bridal-style.

"Let's get back to the academy and take these two to the hospital," he told Misaki. Misaki nodded, along with the rest of the group, and they headed back to the academy.

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Her hand twitched, and her eyes opened slightly. She examined the room. On her right, there was a round wooden table, with a white vase on top, which had a red rose in it. There was a red couch in the corner of the room on her left and a shelf, full with teddy bears and cards beside the couch. By the way of the room was designed, she knew it was a hospital. She sat up and gazed outside her window, waiting.

**Meanwhile…**

"Anna, Nonoko, are you two going to visit Mikan-chan later, after school?" Yuu asked them.

"No," they replied, upset. "We've got clubs after school today."

"Besides," Anna continued. "It's not like we can actually see her."

"That's true," Yuu answered simply. "Imai-san, are you?" Hotaru simply nodded, not removing her gaze from her book.

The class wasn't really cheerful without Mikan grinning and shouting all day. In fact, the class was just another dull moment to the students now that their noisy, yet joyful, student wasn't around. They missed the young brunette.

"Natsume," Ruka called as he stroked his bunny's fur, "are you going to visit Sakura-san later?"

"Hn." Natsume didn't bother looking at his friend, but continued reading the manga in his hands.

"Are you going to bring Youiichi?" Ruka questioned him.

Natsume hesitated, then answered, "Who knows?"

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**Later…**

Mikan's gaze didn't drift even when she heard the door open. She continued staring at the scene outside, her eyes unmoving. She heard a gasp, and a sound of metal things crash onto the ground. Her eyes still didn't move, nor did her body.

"Sakura-san!" a nurse squealed. "You're finally up! Ah! Gomen! I'll pick this up straight away!" She collected the tools and put it on a tray. "Ah, umm… Would you like something to eat?"

Mikan's gaze turned to meet the nurse's. She hopped out of bed and walked up to the nurse. "I'll go get my own food…" she said in a soft voice, which could be considered a mere whisper.

"Ah! Sakura-san, you must not leave the hospital!" Mikan wore her coat and hat, her hair tucked in the hat, and opened the door.

"I'll be right back," she assured. With that, Mikan left the room, heading to the lift. She walked slowly, still weak. Her body felt heavy and her voice wasn't loud. She was like a fragile glass that could be broken at any moment. She pressed the button for the elevator, to go down.

When the door opened, she entered, and pressed the button to go to ground floor. She waited patiently, leaning on the wall of the lift weakly. When the door opened, she exited the lift and headed out of the hospital. She walked outside, and headed to a field that was beside the hospital. She lied down on the soft grass, removing her hat. She relaxed, under the warm sun.

**1 hour later…**

Mikan's opened slowly, awaken by the voices she could hear.

"I'll sell this picture if you don't…"

"Imai-san!" another voice complained.

"Shut up," a dark voice warned.

"Onii-chan, why is the ugly girl always sleeping?" a voice asked. This voice sounded like it came from a young boy.

"Who knows?" the dark voice replied.

Mikan looked in the direction the voices were coming from. There was a group of students that were entering the hospital. _Hotaru… You-chan… Ruka-pyon… Natsume… _Mikan got up and wore her hat. She proceeded to the hospital, remembering the promise she gave the nurse.

Mikan took the lift after the one her friends took. She entered, and closed the door, heading to her floor. When the lift stopped on her floor, and the doors open, she was shocked to see a crimson-eyed boy who seemed anxious, yet furious, waiting for the lift to come. He immediately entered the lift, closing the door and clicking the button to ground floor.

"W-Wait! I wanted to get out on this floor!" Mikan protested, but the lift was already going down.

"Shut up, I have no time for your needs," Natsume replied coldly. Mikan was getting really weak, and she needed to rest. Natsume couldn't recognize her, for her hair was hidden in the hat, and her face wasn't the usual her. It was a weak and sad face, with no life in it.

Suddenly, the lift stopped. Natsume clicked on the open button several times, but nothing happened. "Damn it!" he shouted as he banged on the door, irritated. "That idiot…" he muttered. "What the hell does she think she's doing?!" He bit his lip and slapped his forehead.

The two of them were stuck in the lift, Natsume, not knowing the girl beside him was Mikan, and Mikan, who was weak, and was about to collapse. Her feet were going to die on her, and she couldn't do anything. It was a crucial moment for the both of them, and they needed to get out, fast.

_The chapter has now ended…_

_Aww! xP Well, I'll try my best to update soon! Poor Mikan! She's weak and trapped! _

_But in any case, I'd like a review from the rest of you! xD It's the least you could do for me, considering I'm doing my best! Please? _

_It increases my motivations! xDxDxD_


	4. Hospital Life

_Chapter 4, finally out! xD I apologize for delaying this chapter for AGES. I've been busy with the holidays but I think I'd be able to make the next chapter faster than this one. xD To show my apologies, I made this chapter longer than any of the others. xP_

_Enjoy! xDxDxD_

**Hospital Life**

Mikan stared at the boy in front of her, who was obviously depressed. Her feet collapsed, causing her to fall to the floor. Natsume looked at her. Thinking she was just annoyed that they were trapped in the lift, he ignored her.

"Ne," Mikan voiced out softly, "Why are you so angry?"

"It's none of your business," he muttered, annoyed.

"Ne, you said… 'Her'. Who is that?" the brunette asked softly.

"Shut up!" he yelled. His loud voice made the girl squeals softly, jumping. "You're… A girl?" Mikan lowered her head.

"I… I'm clearly not a boy!" Mikan shouted in a different voice. She made her voice pitch higher, sounding more girlish. It strained her body to shout, considering she was still ill. She gasped through her mouth for air.

"Whatever." Natsume turned, showing only his back at her.

"About 'her'…" Mikan began. "Is she an important person to you?" Natsume faced her, but didn't reply. The weak brunette was aware that he had to intention of answering so she kept quiet.

Natsume then examined her appearance, and realized something. "You're a student from the elementary school?" Mikan kept quiet. "Oi, answer me," he said, making a flame appear 15 centimeters away from her face. She coughed, but didn't attempt to move away from the flames.

"Stop it," Mikan whimpered.

"Then answer," Natsume threatened. Mikan coughed again, but this time, blood splattered on her gown. "What the—?" Natsume looked at her, confused and slightly worried. He made the flames disappear and crouched beside her.

"Ah, gomen…" Mikan apologized softly, her vision blurring.

"Oi, what the hell is wrong with you?" he asked coldly. Mikan, reaching her limit, dropped, lying on the cold, hard floor. Her hat fell off, revealing her brunette hair, and her identity. Natsume was shocked to see the person he was looking for, lie on the floor, covered with blood.

"Mikan!?" he yelled, anxious. He shook her to get her up but without prevailing. "Damn it!" Natsume carried the motionless body on his back and looked around the elevator. Spotting an exit above, he opened it, and jumped through it. Natsume searched for the closest floor, still carrying Mikan on his back.

Finally finding the closest floor, Natsume hopped on it, and forced open the door. People standing at the door of the elevator were shocked to see the boy carrying a girl who was covered in blood and offered to help to them but Natsume ignored them, dashing towards Mikan's hospital room.

When Natsume opened the door, Hotaru and Ruka looked at the raven-haired boy, shocked to see the brunette lying unconsciously on his back. "Sakura-san?!" Ruka called as he stretched his hands towards the girl, offering to take her of his best friend's back. Natsume declined, as he gently put her on her bed.

"She's covered in blood!" Hotaru complained. "What happened?" she asked, facing Natsume. The boy ignored her, as he pressed on the nurse button quickly. A pair of hands grabbed him from behind, turning him to face the person.

"Natsume… Stop it." Mikan looked at him in the eyes, and released him. "Stop making a big commotion… Over a one star like me." Natsume stared at the girl, shocked at the fact she could still move in her condition. Ruka rushed to her side, making her lie down properly.

"Sakura-san, the ranking doesn't matter," Ruka insisted. "We're worried about you… So, for now, just rest." Mikan held the blonde boy's hand and gently rubbed it softly. Even though it wasn't the time for romance, Ruka flushed a bright red. Natsume grunted in disgust.

"And?" Natsume faced the girl. "What were you doing? Out of the hospital?" Mikan frowned slightly and shook her head.

"I just… wanted to go outside," she muttered softly, squeezing Ruka's hand. The blonde boy realized her hand tightening on his, but it didn't hurt him due the lack of power Mikan needed.

"Sakura-san…" Ruka mumbled softly.

"The nurse said that you went out to eat," Hotaru said. "Where did you go?" she demanded. Mikan turned her body to face Ruka, and put her other hand on his. She brought Ruka's hand closer to her face with both her hands and shut her eyes.

"The garden…" Mikan whispered loud enough for them to hear.

"Ne," Youiichi suddenly spoke. "I didn't see her in the garden, onii-chan," he said as he tugged Natsume's shirt.

"Now that he mentions it… I didn't either," Ruka said.

"Baka. Mikan was wearing a coat and a hat so we didn't recognize her," Hotaru explained. "Her face isn't as lively and she isn't that noisy… It's not easy to recognize her like that, is it?" Hotaru walked up to the brunette and questioned her. "Why?" Ruka and Natsume's eyes widened as they faced the inventor. Her hand was covering her eyes, hiding her face. "Why did you do this to yourself?! Don't you know that we're worried?! Mikan, you—"

"Gomen." Mikan had grabbed Hotaru's hand and pulled her in for a hug. "Gomennasai, Hotaru." She patted her friend's black hair softly.

"Baka," Hotaru muttered as she hugged her friend. "You've finally woken up." After a while, Mikan let go of Hotaru, whose stone face had returned. Hotaru backed away. "I'll go call the nurse." Hotaru walked out of the room, leaving Natsume, Ruka and Youiichi with Mikan.

"Oi, polka-dots," Natsume called. Mikan faced Natsume, still lying down, and one of her hands with Ruka.

"You saw it again?" Mikan asked calmly while letting out a soft chuckle. "Natsume… You pervert…" she whispered as she turned to Ruka, closing her eyes, still lying down. "Anyways, what is it?"

"Why were you disguising from us?" Natsume asked, annoyed. Both the grey-headed and blonde-headed boy faced the girl, waiting for a reply. Mikan didn't speak nor react. She remained in her position, unchanging. "Oi, reply already!" Natsume demanded. The brunette still didn't move. There was silence, until Ruka shouted.

"Sakura-san?!" Ruka yelled as he stood up from his chair. "Ch-Chotto, Sakura-san?! Are you okay?!" he asked as he shook her.

Natsume immediately rushed to Mikan's side, checking on her. Her eyes were shut, but she was still breathing. "She fell asleep," Natsume assured Ruka. The blonde boy sighed in relief knowing that she wasn't in any danger.

"Sakura-sama?!" a high-pitched voice called from the door. The same nurse from before was standing at the door, her face pale. "Are you okay?" she asked as she ran to the brunette's aid. The nurse examined her patient and nodded at the three visitors. "Thank you for bringing her back here. I'm sorry but I'll have to ask all of you to leave now." Natsume took Youiichi's hand, ready to leave.

"Could I know when we can visit her again?" Ruka asked politely. Youiichi turned his head to face the nurse, showing his cute face. The nurse smiled at the cute—yet devilish—boy.

"If you want, the earliest I can give you is tonight," she replied. The three of them nodded and exited the room. Hotaru was waiting for them at the corner of the door.

"Are you going?" Hotaru asked Natsume and Ruka. The raven-headed boy just walked ahead, taking Youiichi with him while Ruka nodded. "It'll be late so it may not be the best decision," Hotaru advised.

"I'll just visit her for a while," Ruka assured. "The visiting hours at night won't take too long." Hotaru nodded and walked beside him towards the dorms.

**At the dorm…**

"EEHH?!?"

"Mikan got up!?" Nonoko and Anna yelled.

"Can we go visit her now?!"

"Mm! Let's go!"

"Shut up!!" Sumire yelled, annoyed. "All you guys talk about is Sakura this and Sakura that! Why don't you just—"

BAKA! BAKA! BAKA!

"Ouch…" Sumire muttered. Sumire was lying on the floor because she was shot by Hotaru with her baka gun. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Sumire shouted. She made a devilish grimace, gritting her teeth tightly. "Grr…"

"You can't visit Mikan now," Hotaru explained. "That baka got herself injured again, but she should be well enough at night." The inventor's eyes drifted to Natsume, which made her question him. "Natsume," she called. Natsume looked at her to show that he was listening. "How did Mikan end up in that situation?" Natsume turned around and headed to his room. "Natsume!" Hotaru called again, but by the time she yelled his name, he was already gone.

"Heh…So that's what it is…" Koko suddenly said. Everyone looked at him confusedly.

"Koko… You read his mind?" Anna asked. Koko nodded and everyone crowded around him to listen.

"Erm… Sakura was in the elevator but Natsume couldn't recognize her because she was disguising herself… But then Natsume abused her a bit by putting a fire beside her and she coughed out blood… She fainted and her hat fell off. That's when Natsume realized it was Sakura…" Koko paused because he was running out of breath from speaking too much. "Then Natsume took her to the room where Ruka and Imai were."

"So that's what happened…" Hotaru mumbled. Ruka stroked his rabbit and walked off to his room.

"Poor Mikan-chan!" Nonoko gasped. "Is she okay?"

"Well, it _is _that baka so she should be fine soon," Hotaru spoke. The black-haired girl walked away from the crowd and left to her room. Ruka then took Youiichi's hand and took him to his room.

**In the hospital…**

Mikan groaned as she felt a sharp pain on her head. With both her hands, she clutched her head. "Ouch…" she mumbled. The door opened and a nurse entered, carrying a trolley of food.

"Sakura-san?" the nurse called. "We've given you your medicine. Are you okay now?" she asked, concerned. Mikan nodded as she groggily sat up on her bed slowly. She looked at the food, and groaned louder. The nurse noticed that her patient wasn't pleased with the food there, and obviously didn't want to eat. "You're going to have to eat, Sakura-san. Your body is not in a good condition." Mikan's gaze turned to face the window. She stared at the beautiful sunset that was a mix of colours.

_Yellow, orange, pink, purple and… __**Red.**_"Ah." Mikan looked at the nurse and grimaced. "It's hard to swallow solids, nurse," Mikan mumbled, trying to make an excuse.

"I have a name," she said, slightly irritated. "Tsukiyo Hikari."

"Then, may I call you Hikari-chan?" Mikan asked. "Or is Hikari-chan too familiar?"

"Ah, its okay, I don't mind," Hikari replied, blushing slightly. It was rare for someone to want to sound so familiar to her when they had just met—especially not a patient.

"You can call me Mikan," the brunette offered as she raised the two corners of her mouth slightly. Hikari nodded.

"Ah." Hikari finally realized that she had to give food to her patient. She cursed herself softly for ignoring her post as a nurse and talking to the patient. "Mikan-san, your food is getting cold so I suggest you eat it now." Just as Mikan was about to protest, she countered it quickly. "Your foods aren't solid. In fact, its only porridge and soup, so it won't be hard to swallow."

"Hai…" Mikan mumbled unenthusiastically. She slowly took a spoon of her porridge and stuffed it into her mouth. The taste wasn't a problem to her. It was just the fact she had no appetite to eat. Hikari left the room, satisfied that her patient finally obeyed her orders.

After Mikan finished her food, she continued to stare outside her window, looking at the night sky. The sun had already set and the scenes were all dark. She hopped out of bed, walked up to the light switch, and switched it off. Mikan grabbed her coat and swung it around her back. She opened the window and exited it, hopping onto the roof. She sat on the high roof, staring at the night sky.

**8:30pm…**

"Mikan-chaaan!" Nonoko called as she swung the door open. "Eh? It's dark in here…"

"Then put on the lights," Koko said as he walked in with Ruka and Anna. Nonoko did as she was told and switched on the lights. All of them gasped when they realized that Mikan wasn't in bed and the window was opened.

"Ne, you don't think that Mikan actually escaped?" Anna asked in an anxious voice. Ruka ran up to the window and looked outside.

"I can't see her," Ruka said. "Let's look for her," he suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement and left the room.

Natsume then entered the room and searched it. He looked outside the window and saw the view. He looked down, and when he was about to look above, he heard a voice. "Nat…Sume?" He followed the voice and faced upwards which led his eyes to see a girl sitting on the roof.

"What are you doing up there, polka-dots?" Natsume asked anxiously as he hopped onto the roof. He sat down beside her and looked at her. Mikan looked away from him quickly. "Oi, polka-dots!"

"Stop looking," Mikan complained, still not facing him. "And my name isn't my panties pattern!" Mikan got up and walked away from him feeling irritated.

"Where are you going?" Natsume asked as he got up. "You're still ill, baka!" Mikan ignored him and continued to walk away slowly. "Oi!"

"Stop it!" Mikan snapped and turned around to face Natsume. "Stop calling me stupid names! I have a name, and its—" The brunette's foot slipped on a loose piece roof tile. "Ah!" Mikan's body turned and her weak body dropped facing the ground. Mikan screamed loudly.

"_Mikan!"_

Mikan shut her eyes and felt a sharp pain on her wrist. When Mikan opened her eyes, she realized she was floating in mid-air. She could see there was a long distance from the ground and her and when she looked up, she saw Natsume holding her by her wrist.

"Natsu…me…" Mikan whispered softly. The raven-haired boy pulled her up by her wrist which caused her to scream in pain. "It hurts!" she complained.

"What are you doing here?" Natsume asked. Mikan sat down on the roof glumly and held her wrist softly.

"Looking at the… Sky…" Mikan mumbled. "Arigatou…" Natsume faced her confusedly. "For calling me by my name… And… Gomen…"

"Eh?" Natsume looked at the girl curiously, trying to figure out what was on her mind. She seemed to be acting really weird and that bugged him.

"…I shouldn't get so angry just because you don't call me by my name," she continued. "It's normal… For Natsume, I mean… So, gomen…" Natsume grunted.

"Get down," Natsume ordered. Mikan faced him, confused. "Go back to your room, baka."

"Let's make a deal," Mikan decided. Natsume looked up at the sky and nodded. "I… I want to know if my nullification alice is on…So…" She looked away and bit her lip. "…Burn me." Natsume got up to his sitting position and glared at her. "Umm… a small fire nearby is okay… So, please." Natsume eyed her suspiciously and forced a flame to appear in front of them. Mikan slowly breathed in and out and tried to put out the flames.

"Oi, polka-dots, can you do it?" Natsume asked as he looked at her in the face. She was breaking out cold sweat and squeezing her eyes. The flames went out and the brunette gasped.

"Reo…-sama…" she muttered and collapsed onto the roof. Natsume's eyes widened as he heard her mutter Reo's name. He remembered her calling Reo 'sama' when she was hypnotized by his voice pheromone and wondered if she was still under it. But it made him wonder if that was the case because she just used her alice so she should be unaffected now.

"Mikan?!" he yelled her name and caught her before she fell onto the roof tiles. She was probably exhausted for bringing out her alice even though she was in that state.

"Natsume? Sakura-san?" a voice called from below. Natsume looked down, only to see Ruka staring at him carrying Mikan in his arms. "Na…Natsume… You… And Sakura-san… Don't tell me…" Ruka started to stutter uncontrollably.

"Oi, get this baka down, will you? She's collapsed," Natsume informed the surprised blonde. Natsume carried her and passed her to the blonde who willingly caught the girl in his arms. Ruka blushed when he saw the innocent girl in his very own arms. He set the girl on her bed gently and looked at Natsume.

"Did you bring her up there?" Ruka asked cautiously as Natsume swung in from the window. Natsume wiped the dust of his shirt and answered.

"Nope, she was already up there when I came to visit," he replied simply. "Oi, nurse," he called Hikari. Hikari looked at him confusedly, waiting for him to speak.

"Mikan's wrist probably broke." Natsume stuffed his hands into his pockets and left the room. Ruka and the group watched him leave, and looked at Mikan. Hikari had them leave, and bandaged Mikan's hand. Mikan slept peacefully without disturbance that night.

**Next morning…**

Mikan woke up early that Saturday morning. She wasn't under Reo's spell any longer and she was back to her energetic self. She agreed to eat her food in the morning and wasn't as odd and weak as before.

"Mikan!?" a few voices yelled as the door flung open. Mikan looked at the crowd and saw Tsubasa, Misaki, Hotaru, Ruka, Natsume, Koko, Youiichi, Anna, Nonoko, Yuu and Sumire.

"Everyone! Why are you all here?" Mikan gasped at the crowd. The brunette was sitting up on her bed staring at the group.

"Eh…? She's alright after all..." Sumire muttered.

"Mikan, how is your wrist?" Hotaru asked as she walked towards the bed with the rest of the group.

"Okay… I guess…" Mikan mumbled as she held her wrist. "Ah! You-chan! You came to visit onee-chan?" Youiichi nodded.

"Because you're not as ugly as you were before," Youiichi complimented. This was true. Even though it hadn't been long, Mikan's hair had grown longer which made her look prettier.

"I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult…" Mikan sweat-dropped. "But… Arigatou… For coming to visit me." Youiichi's head nodded slowly.

"Mikan, it's good you're okay!" Misaki chirped happily. "Oh yeah, this year's school festival is in two weeks!" Tsubasa and the rest of the group nodded in agreement. Mikan's mouth rose, forming a smile.

"School Festival."

_Okay… This chapter is now over! I'm making the next chapter now…_

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review! I __**need **__motivation! _

_Please and thankyou! xD_


	5. Back to School

_Hahaha! Chapter 5! Shorter than chapter 4, though. Chap 4 was longer, because it was my apology! xP But in any case, this is my early new year's gift to all of you! _

_Enjoy! _

_(Maybe you could leave me a review for an early new year's gift in return! xD)_

**Back to School**

"Its that time of the year again?" Mikan muttered softly. The glances immediately snapped towards her.

"M…Mikan? Don't you like them?" Tsubasa asked her, confused at her attitude. The two corners of Mikan's mouth rose and she looked up.

"Of course I do!" she shouted in a delighted tone. She jumped out of the sheets and grabbed Ruka's hand and danced around the room. The blonde boy flushed a bright red in embarrassment. The group watched the cheerful, excited girl in joy; they were hoping she would be less ill. After she had stopped dancing, she faced her best friend. "Hotaru!" she yelled as she tried to hug her friend.

Mikan's body was surprisingly hugged back instead of being hit at. "Baka," Hotaru muttered as she held Mikan tightly. The brunette looked at the raven-haired girl in shock, but was still extremely happy.

After a few laughs and playful moments, the gang left for lunch and to allow the girl to rest. As soon as they left, Mikan who was left in the room alone fell onto the floor. Her body had given up on her for being so energetic when she was actually still ill and was in no condition to be as lively as she was. Staggering back to her bed, she muttered to herself. "The most I can take is 3 hours… Until I drop…"

The brunette tested her movements on the bed and found out that her body could only move for 30 minutes after the 3 hours. It would be fatal if she took too much time to force herself to be energetic. She shut her eyes, and soon drifted into a long, peaceful sleep.

_School festival… eh? It's already been a year since the last… Maybe we should do something good this year too… Maybe something like the last year's RPG game… Everyone loved that… But we'd have to do a new theme and make it different… We could make it into something like a maze… And…!_

"_**Mikan!"**_

_Eh? What was that…? Maybe it's my imagination again… I seem to always—_

"_**Mikan! Wake up!!"**_

Mikan's eyes slowly opened and stared at the white ceiling. Then, she saw her best friend looking down at her, bored. "Baka, do you think it's good to sleep and skip meals?" The brunette just stared at her, unmoving. "Go eat," she ordered. Mikan didn't budge; she couldn't. "Mikan. Go. Before I hit you." Hotaru aimed her baka gun at the girl. Noticing the girl was completely motionless; Hotaru put down her baka gun and eyed the brunette.

Being pulled by her best friend, Mikan cried out in pain. "Ow!! My muscles hurt from jumping up and down too much!" she yelled. Hotaru made her sit up and gave her a plate of food. Mikan was forced to eat the food immediately while being scolded by Hotaru for being too lively. Hotaru was the only one in the room with her.

"I… My max of energy is at least 3 hours. 30 minutes after that I won't last…" Mikan confessed. Hotaru's cold expression didn't change, but it was obvious she was concerned for the ill brunette; she rarely showed her emotions. Sighing, she raised her hand and patted her best friend's head. Mikan looked up at her friend, puzzled.

"Baka," Hotaru muttered again. Mikan smiled weakly and reached for her friend. Hotaru, knowing Mikan was really fragile, allowed the brunette to hug her without resistance. Mikan was grateful towards her friend who always cared for her no matter what, even if Hotaru's attitude wasn't the greatest.

After eating, Mikan insisted Hotaru leaves to rest. Hotaru agreed with her friend and left. That was when Mikan started to plan something. She hopped out of bed when she saw her friend leave the hospital through her window. Mikan talked with the nurse for a while and came back to her room with a true smile on her face.

**Two days later…**

Natsume entered the classroom along with his best friend, Ruka, who was holding a white bunny in his arms, petting it. He sat in his usual place at the back of the class and began reading his manga. The class was dull without the brunette. They weren't quiet, but it wasn't as exciting as usual. Surely everyone was fooling around with their alices, though.

No one noticed a brown haired student entered the classroom because they were too busy with their own alices. The student had long hair reaching to her chest and her face was covered by her hair.

Soon enough, Narumi entered the classroom, wearing a purple, frilly costume. He noticed the brown-haired child who was sitting at the back beside Natsume, who ignored her and read his manga. Narumi smiled at the sight. He then announced to the class loudly. "Class! I've got special news!!" he announced joyfully. "We're one of the classes who get to do something for the school festival, just as a class. Of course we'll also be doing preparations with the club but we'll be able to put on something as well. I was thinking we make a skit, so I'll be making the story and I'll bring it to school tomorrow."

"Hai!" the class replied cheerfully, except for Natsume, Hotaru, Ruka and the female beside Natsume.

Narumi dismissed the students so they could go for their clubs and prepare for the festival. The female brunette got up and headed out to prepare as well. Just as she left, Natsume noticed something about her. "Ruka," Natsume called. Ruka, who was about to leave the class, stopped walking and faced Natsume. "Come with me first."

"Natsume… What's wrong?" Ruka asked, puzzled.

"Just come," Natsume ordered as he left the class. Ruka followed behind him.

Natsume followed the brown-headed child with Ruka tagging along behind him. "Oi," Natsume called to the female.

"What's wrong, Natsume?" Ruka asked him, looking at the brown-headed child. Natsume didn't reply. He just stared at the female standing in the hallway. Finally, the brunette sighed and turned around and faced the two boys. Ruka gasped and Natsume twitched at the sight of her face.

"S-S-Sakura-san?!" Ruka yelled as he took a step forward towards her. The girl nodded and smiled slightly. "What are you doing in school??" Ruka asked curiously.

"You've been discharged??" Natsume asked in a bored tone. Mikan shook her head slowly and looked down.

"Umm… I'm getting two days out of the hospital…" Mikan mumbled silently, but loud enough for the two boys to hear her. "If you'll excuse me… I need to go for my SA classes…"

"Umm… Sakura-san," Ruka called. Mikan looked at him and listened. "Are you okay?" he asked concernedly.

"I'm fine, Ruka-pyon," Mikan chirped happily and grinned. The brunette looked cutter with her hair down as well, causing Ruka to blush a visible red on his cheeks. Mikan didn't notice this because she was already running down the hallway, towards her class. Ruka then excused himself from Natsume and went to his clubs. Natsume walked back to class and started to read his manga like usual.

When Mikan reached her class, she entered silently, trying not to make a commotion. Fortunately, no one noticed the brunette enter the class. She seated herself away from the entire group, trying to avoid attention. It wouldn't be easy for her to assure people she was okay without being lively, but this way, no one would take notice in her at all and she was safe. To make sure no one would recognize her, she put on a hat. Her long hair was already covering her face so there wasn't too much of a problem.

Tsubasa got up and claimed everyone's attention. "For this festival, I was wondering if we do the same thing we did as last year," he announced. "Is everyone okay with that? Or does someone have a better idea?" The class chorused 'okay', but there was only one person who protested.

"I…" a voice at the back called. "I think doing the same thing as last year would make it boring." Everyone's head snapped to face the back. "Maybe we should choose a different theme," the voice suggested. "Like medieval… And maybe we could have the girl who becomes a servant wears a princess costume or the guy wears a knight costume."

"Hmm… That's a good idea," Tsubasa agreed. "By the way, who are you?" he asked curiously. In the SA group, everyone knew everyone. There weren't many people in their club so it was easy for them to get along. "You don't seem to be from this club." Tsubasa's eyes narrowed at the 'stranger'. "We'll have you get out immediately if you don't reply," he threatened. "Cause you could be someone setting us up."

"Oi Tsubasa! Don't be so mean!" Misaki warned. Tsubasa ignored her and continued staring at the brunette. All eyes were on the argument.

Mikan sighed in defeat. "Tsubasa-senpai… You're really strict," she sighed. "My name is…" she said as she took off her hat and shoved her hair off her face. "Sakura Mikan." The brunette looked at them, smiling weakly. The SA club member's eyes widened and they're mouths were shaped like an 'O'.

"Mi-Mikan-chan!!" they shouted at the same time, shocked. Tsubasa ran up to as soon as he got over his frozen position, followed along with Misaki.

"Gomen, ne," Mikan apologized. "I should've answered the first time you asked me." The brunette smiled in her fake-cheerful way.

"Mikan-chan, you've been discharged?" Misaki asked happily.

"Ah… Umm… Something like that I guess," Mikan mumbled as she rubbed the back of her head. Tsubasa's frown immediately turned into a huge grin as he picked her up and spun her around.

"That's good," Tsubasa said as he smiled at his kouhai. "Then, shall we do as Mikan says?!" he asked the entire class. The class chorused a 'yes' together, raising their fists into the air excitedly.

**3 hours later**...

"This is bad," Mikan muttered to herself as she realized her body's limit. "Tsubasa-senpai!" she called. Tsubasa's head turned to face her to show her he was listening. "Umm… Is it okay if I can have a break? My body still isn't in the best condition…"

"Shall I take you back to you room?" Tsubasa offered politely.

"No!" Mikan yelled. Tsubasa was shocked at the tone of her voice. "Ah. I mean… It's okay, I'll be fine," Mikan said as she smiled weakly and ran off. The brunette headed away from her senpai not noticing the way she was heading. Soon, she collapsed onto the floor. Her vision showed her that she was under a sakura tree. She struggled to flip her body and gasped for breath doing so. She stared at the sakura petals fall around her. She smiled, and lost consciousness.

**Later…**

"Imai," Ruka called for Hotaru. "Have you seen Sakura-san?"

"She should be in the hospital," Hotaru answered flatly. "Why?"

"Eh? Ah. Sakura-san came to school today," Ruka explained. Hearing this, Hotaru's eyes widened and immediately looked at Ruka. "She didn't tell you…?"

"When did you see her?" Hotaru asked, panicked.

"Ah. Umm… In the morning… About seven hours ago…" he replied.

"This is bad…" Hotaru muttered. Natsume, being as sharp as he was, heard this. "Where did she go?"

"Umm… She left us in the morning to join her club," Ruka answered.

"Was she cheerful?" Hotaru asked. When she asked this, even if it was her, she sounded really concerned.

"Kind of…" Ruka mumbled. Hotaru dashed away from the two confused boys.

"Ruka," Natsume called.

"What is it, Natsume?" Ruka asked.

"I'll be right back." Natsume walked away from the animal pheromone boy with his hands in his pockets. Soon, he too, was out of sight.

**Meanwhile…**

_That baka… I hope she's okay… Ah. There's Andou. _Hotaru ran up to Tsubasa quickly. "Where's Mikan?" she panted. Tsubasa shook his head and said he didn't know. The last he saw her was her heading towards the forest. Hotaru immediately ran into the forest, searching for her best friend.

A pair of hazel eyes opened slowly, revealing a view of sakura petals falling, and up on the sakura tree, a boy was sitting there. The girl blinked and rubbed her eyes and continued to stare at the scene until a voice disturbed her peaceful moment.

"Oi, polka-dots," a raven-haired boy called her. The girl flinched, but didn't get up.

"I told you already," she complained, "that my name isn't polka-dots." The girl sighed as she reached for a sakura petal beside her. "It's Mikan…" Natsume didn't say her name which made her sigh again. "Actually…" Mikan began. "Sakura is good enough for Natsume-chan to say," she teased.

"Shut up, baka," Natsume countered. "What are you doing, sleeping here?"

"That's none of your business," Mikan said as she shut her eyes.

"That inventor was worried because of you… She's looking for you," Natsume informed Mikan. "Why?"

Mikan sighed again. She wouldn't ever want to tell any of them of her condition, especially not Natsume or Ruka. "Maybe because I wasn't around? It's almost dinner after all," she lied.

"Mikan!" Hotaru yelled as she ran up to the brunette who was lying back-faced on the floor. "Are you okay?" The brunette sat up and wrapped her hand around Hotaru's shoulder for support. Hotaru grabbed her hand willingly and supported the brunette whole-heartedly. Mikan shook her head and faced upwards, showing Natsume was there, so she didn't want to make a big fuss. Hotaru nodded and supported Mikan on the way back to the rooms.

'_Is she okay…?' What's wrong with her? _Natsume's thoughts surrounded and confused him. He shrugged it off and hopped down the tree and headed back to the rooms for dinner.

_Okays! This chap is done! This story will be continued probably on January 2008! _

_Please look forward to it! _

_AH! Don't forget my early new year's gift! _

_xDxDxD_


	6. Elections

"Mikan," Hotaru called, "are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital

_Okay, finally updated! I must've confused quite a few people in my last chapter, but this one makes sense xD Please enjoy!! xD I want reviews too! T.T_

**Elections**

"Mikan," Hotaru called, "are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" The inventor looked at the brunette who was now lying down on her bed.

"Positive," Mikan said weakly. "I'll be fine," she assured her best friend. Hotaru didn't budge, which made Mikan realize that her friend didn't believe her. "If I rest I should be fine. Besides, tomorrow we're deciding about the play," she said slightly cheerfully. Hotaru smiled a bit and nodded.

"If you faint tomorrow as well I won't forgive you," Hotaru warned. Mikan sweat-dropped.

"U-understood…" she stuttered. Mikan then started at the ceiling for a moment, and shut her eyes. "…I think I'll skip dinner for today."

"No, you won't," Hotaru protested. "You're eating whether you want to or not."

"Hotaru, you meanie…" Mikan cried waterfalls as she sat up. Hotaru chuckled lightly and helped Mikan stand up. The brunette stood up unstably but tried to regain balance. When she felt that she was falling, she'd hold onto Hotaru's shoulders.

**-Dining Room-**

Hotaru brought the girl down slowly. No one could recognize the girl because her hair was covering her face and she wasn't shouting nor giving huge grins on her face like usual. When Hotaru got to an empty table, she put Mikan there and told her to stay there while the inventor went to get food. The brunette had to agree before Hotaru hit her with the baka gun. Mikan sweat-dropped when Hotaru threatened her but smiled sweetly at her best friend who was concerned about her.

"Sa-Sakura-san…?" Ruka asked as he approached the girl, unsure. The girl shoved her hair to the side of her face and nodded. She gave the blonde boy a sweet smile which causes the boy to blush.

"Natsume isn't with you?" she asked softly and looked behind him.

"No," the boy replied, "He said he's coming later," he explained. He hesitantly sat down beside the girl and asked her, "Are you okay, Sakura-san?"

"Eh?" Mikan was confused. Then she realized his face was showing hints of concern. She smiled at the boy again. "I'm fine, Ruka-pyon," she assured him. Her kind voice calmed him, making the two corners of his mouth rise up slightly.

"That's good," he said in relief. Mikan pointed a finger to her chin and looked up, thinking of something. _I wonder what she's thinking of… _Ruka thought to himself. _She looks kind of cute like that… _Ruka blushed and shook his head quickly, getting rid of the blush. Mikan didn't notice him and continued to think.

Finally, the brunette spoke. "Ruka-pyon," she called. The animal-lover looked at her and smiled, waiting for her to tell him something. "What kind of play are we going to do?" she asked, smiling slightly.

"Eh?" Ruka was confused—he didn't expect her to ask him a question like this. "I'm not so sure," he replied honestly.

"That perverted sensei said that he'd be making the play," a voice said dully. Mikan looked up and Ruka turned to face behind him. Both of them saw a raven-headed boy who had his hands in his pockets and was looking at the two, bored.

"Natsume…" Ruka said. Mikan just continued to look at him, one of her hands supporting her chin and her elbow leaning on the table. Natsume noticed that the girl was looking at him and chuckled inwardly.

"What are you looking at, polka-dots?" he asked. Before she could answer, he asked her another question. "Have you fallen for me now?" This question made Ruka jump slightly. The blonde boy turned to face Mikan, waiting for her to answer.

"No way," she replied, bored. "I wouldn't fall for a pervert." The brunette just sighed deeply. Ruka sighed in relief at her answer, knowing he still had a chance. Just then, Hotaru came with the food.

"What are you two doing here?" she asked as she placed Mikan's food on the table in front of Mikan. She sat down beside the brunette and started munching on crabs. Mikan and Ruka sweat-dropped when she started to eat her crabs. Ruka and Natsume left the two and went to get their own food.

"Hotaru really likes crabs…" Mikan pointed out. Hotaru looked at her coldly and told her to shut up. Mikan did so and started to eat her one-star meal. She ate halfway and sighed. "I… I think I'll go rest now…" she told Hotaru. The inventor pointed at the rest of the girl's food that lay on the table. "I don't have much of an appetite," Mikan explained. Hotaru nodded and allowed the brunette to excuse herself.

As the brunette was walking to her room, she sighed again and mumbled silently to herself. "I wonder if I'm even going to get better…" She entered her room and lay on her bed. She had left her window open for the wind to enter and shut her lights so she could sleep. She changed into her pajamas in the darkness and lay back onto her bed, soon drifting off into a deep slumber.

_Cough. _

_Cough, cough. _

_Cough, cough, cough!_

Soon, the brunette was coughing uncontrollably in her sleep. Time to time, she would cough out her own blood but she wouldn't notice it because she was sleeping. A figure entered through her window, and looked at the sick figure. The figure kneeled down and kissed Mikan on her forehead. "Gomen, for before," he whispered. "This should help you," he said as he injected something into her body. Mikan grunted softly but stopped coughing. "I'll be coming to get you soon." With that, the figure left the girl who was now in a peaceful sleep.

**-The next day, Classroom-**

"Nonoko, what potion is that?"

"AH! My book!"

"Koko! Stop reading my mind!"

"Natsume-sama! Ruka-sama!!"

The classroom was noisy and chaotic as usual. Natsume and Ruka were already in class, sitting at their seats at the back. Their fan girls were screaming as usual, including a certain Natsume-lover, Sumire Shouda. Instead of screaming because Natsume was there, she screamed at the fan girls to stop disturbing _her _Natsume.

_BANG!_

Everyone's head snapped to face the door. It was soon followed with gasps and squealing. There, stood a brunette who had her hair down and her cheerful smile on. Yes, it was Sakura Mikan.

Mikan felt awkward when everyone was staring at her. She didn't greet them to attract more attention, but stood at the door, sweat-dropping. Anna and Nonoko squealed and ran towards Mikan. "Mikan-chan!!"

"I'm back!" she yelled at her two friends. "Hotaru!" she screamed loudly so the inventor could hear her.

"Mikan…" she muttered. Hotaru walked up to the brunette and whispered something into her ear. Mikan nodded and grinned cheerfully. This made the inventor smile one of her rare smiles—her true smile.

'_You're okay now? No more fevers or anything?'_

Mikan's smile and nod had reassured her. The inventor didn't feel too anxious anymore, and went over to her place and sat down, beginning to read a book.

Natsume and Ruka were also shocked to see the girl so cheerful and lively compared to the day before. When Mikan sat down beside Natsume, she gave both Natsume and Ruka a greeting with a huge grin on her face.

Natsume examined her closely. "Oi, polka-dots," he called. Mikan faced him with an irritated look.

"Pervert," she commented, sticking her tongue out. Natsume smirked at her which made her feel much more irritated. "Shut up, Natsume!"

"Sakura-san…" Ruka interrupted. Mikan turned to face him and smiled. "Are you alright already…?" he asked concernedly. Just then, his bunny which was on his head raised its ears, making it appear as if Ruka had bunny ears. Thus, causing Mikan to laugh out loudly.

"Ruka-pyon, you're so cute!" she exclaimed as she hugged the animal-lover's head and patted his bunny. "You and your bunny are so alike!" Ruka was blushing violently in the girl's arms.

"Oi," Natsume called again. This time, he sounded pissed. "Stop hugging him and answer the question.

Mikan glared at the raven-headed boy, still not letting go of the animal pheromone boy. She stuck her tongue out at the boy, causing the boy to feel annoyed. "I'm fine, Ruka-pyon!" she yelled, grinning happily.

"Sakura-san," a voice called from behind. Mikan turned and was shocked to see Sumire standing there, smiling slightly. "Welcome back." Mikan smiled at the girl sweetly.

"I'm back," she replied, still smiling.

"Before I tell you something, can you let go of Ruka-kun now?" Sumire asked. Mikan looked at Ruka and back to Sumire twice.

"Why?" the brunette asked, confused. Being as blur as she was, Mikan didn't notice the blonde boy's cheek flared up. Sumire sighed at the girl.

"Because his fans are getting annoyed," Sumire explained. Mikan faced behind Sumire to find a group of girls with death glares. All the glares were aiming at her, causing her to sweat-drop. She released the boy immediately and chuckled nervously.

Sumire dragged the girl out of class. The brunette faced the girl confusedly. "Don't get the wrong idea," Sumire said in advance, "I just want to thank you properly for helping me with cooking last time," she thanked, her hands fiddling.

"It was nothing," Mikan chirped cheerfully, giving Sumire a huge grin.

"Well, that's it," Sumire said quickly as she re-entered class.

_Permy can be really nice when she wants too... _Mikan thought. Mikan then entered class again and was then surrounded by her friends again.

Then, the door banged open. "Class we will now sort out the play!" a blonde teacher announced. Yes, it was Narumi-sensei. "I will now tell you what it is about, but first; I've got to announce something." Everyone listened attentively. "The two leading roles as princes will be Natsume and Ruka!"

"EEHH!?"

Many girls squealed in delight while some guys looked a bit annoyed. Natsume and Ruka looked at Mikan for her reaction but didn't get one. The brunette was actually staring out the window, her hair blowing around her face. Mikan seemed to be dazed and disoriented.

"Sakura-san…?" Ruka mumbled silently. Surprisingly, Mikan heard his soft voice, which even Natsume didn't hear. She turned to look at him.

"What is it, Ruka-pyon?" Natsume looked up from his book at the girl, surprised she suddenly asked the blonde boy that question.

"Ah…No… I just thought you looked a bit tired…" he said.

"I'm not tired," she assured. "I'm fine." She smiled at him, and then continued to look out the window again.

"This way, many customers will be attracted! Anyways, I'll have to explain to you what this story is about," Narumi said. "It's about this fight between the two princes who love this one girl and wish to marry her. I've chosen the names already which are Touka, Riku and Airi. Ruka will be Riku, Natsume will be Touka and we will elect a girl to be Airi."

Girls squealed again at knowing the two hottest guys would be acting as if they were fighting for the one girl.

"Class, quiet down!" Narumi ordered. They did so and listened. "Well, in any case, the princes will follow Seven Orders of a Prince.

"The princes will try to do so to please the princess Airi but Touka will lose his life doing so. Then, Prince Riku will take Airi's hand in marriage. Okay, so… Anyone wants to elect someone?"

"Sumire!"

"Anna!"

"Mikan!"

Shouts could be heard all over the class. The most shouts heard were Mikan and Sumire.

"Okay, so Mikan and Sumire will you two come up to the front?"

"Hai."

"Close your eyes, we're going to vote now." The two girls did as they were told. "Okay class, who votes for Sumire?" Quite a few out of the class raised their hands. Narumi wrote down the numbers of votes for Sumire on the board and continued to Mikan's.

Later, Narumi told Mikan and Sumire to sit back in their places after he had counted the votes. "And the winner is…"

Everyone chuckled slightly and a few listened attentively. Mikan looked bored while Sumire prayed for her to win. Natsume and Ruka just looked at the teacher blankly. Hotaru was reading her book as usual and Koko was grinning again. Obviously, he knew the answer first.

"…Sakura Mikan-chan."

_Reviews! Now! Please! xDxDxD I want reviews! MOTIVATION!_

_Anyways thanks for reading! Will update as soon as possible. Thank you! _

_I need reviews, remember that! xP _


	7. Love at Dusk

But like, OMG

_But like, OMG. I have been extremely busy these days… (And lazy xP)... My sincere apologies. As a token of my apology, I would like to make this chapter really, really good xD…_

_So please enjoy. If I get more reviews, I might feel more motivated and I might update more frequently!! Well, anyways, this chapter is like, really good xD… ESPECIALLY for Mikan and Ruka fans. Squeal, girls! xD… So please appreciate it! XD_

**Love At Dusk**

"But still! Fighting is not the way, Touka-sama, Riku-sama!!" the brunette yelled in an anxious tone.

"Airi…" Touka called in a bored tone. "…You do realize we're doing this all for _you,_" he mumbled sarcastically.

"Airi-chan," Riku called as he held her face. "You must understand that you have to choose me… Because, I-I-I… Umm… I… Erm… I… L-l-l-l-l-l—ove…"

The blonde seemed like he had exploded into a red mushroom when saying the word 'love' to the brunette.

"Ruka-pyon!" Mikan called as she caught the boy whose eyes were swirling and cheeks were extremely red.

"CUT!" Narumi called. Then, he sighed. "Natsume, you have to put more effort!"

"Shut up, you gay freak," Natsume retorted, annoyed. "It's not like I even want to do this stupid play.

Narumi sighed deeply. When was this ever going to work? It had been going on like this for 3 days. Ruka could never go past the part 'I love you'. This wasn't going well—and Narumi was tired. "Mikan, when Ruka gets up, tell him to practice saying 'I love you' to you until he gets it right." With that, Narumi got up and walked away.

"Koko, let's practice our scenes together," Anna and Nonoko suggested and left together.

"Tobita Yuu! I demand you to help me with the act!" Sumire demanded. Yuu sweat-dropped as he was dragged away.

Soon enough, everyone except for the brunette, the fire-caster and the animal pheromone blonde was left. Mikan was still holding the blonde who seemed to have fallen asleep in her arms. "I'm leaving," Natsume stated and walked towards the door.

"Ah! Natsume, wait!" The brunette called but didn't receive a reply. Natsume stopped his movements and spoke.

"Take care of Ruka." With that, the raven-haired boy left the two alone…

--

It was dusk. The sun was setting. The sky had several colours—red, orange, pink, yellow and a slight shade of purple—it was beautiful. Birds were chirping and flying away. Crickets were making noises that didn't seem annoying, yet rather relaxing. A pair of blue eyes was opening. Followed by a soft grunt. Soft cheeks were slowly becoming from pale white, to rosy red. It became redder. And redder. And redder.

"S-S-S-Sakura-san??" Her name had slipped out of his mouth silently. He was aware that his position wasn't the best—or was it? There, the boy was laying on a lap—a certain brunettes lap. Her eyes were clearly shut, and she was asleep.

"Ah!" Ruka exclaimed and clamped his mouth with his hands, his face going red again. He remembered he had fainted trying to tell Mikan he loved her. Well, it wasn't easy. To him, it wasn't saying 'I love you' to Airi, but to Mikan—the girl he had really fallen for.

"Ruka…-pyon?" Mikan's voice echoed in his ears. His face shot to meet hers. Mikan looked like she was tired—but still cute. "Umm…" Mikan mumbled as she got up to a sitting position to meet his face directly. "About Ruka-pyon…" she mumbled sheepishly. Ruka looked at her face—her face was reddening, making her look cutter and she was looking at him. "I love you."

--

"Natsume," Hotaru called. "Is it okay? Leaving them both together like that."

The raven-haired boy seemed to be ignoring her and continued lying down on the soft grass below the cherry blossom tree. He took out his manga and started to read it.

"…"

"…"

"…"

**BAKA! BAKA! BAKA!**

"Ouch…" Natsume said as he rubbed his head.

"Don't ignore me, baka," Hotaru said with an annoyed tone with her cold-like stare.

"It's fine," he muttered his answer, irritated. "Why should it matter, anyway?" He rolled to face the other way and continued to read his manga.

"Hmm…" Hotaru hummed flatly. "I see," she mumbled. Then, she got up and walked away from the cherry blossom tree.

When the inventor was gone, Natsume put the manga onto his face, covering it. He lifted his hand and hit his head lightly. "Tch." He sighed softly and rolled again. "What the hell is wrong with me?"

--

Ruka was dumbfounded. The brunette—the girl he liked—was telling him that _she loved him_. And out of the blue, too? His eyes were wide open, shocked at her confession. He had loved her for a while now and he thought that his rival—and best friend—would have beaten him to her heart ages ago… But he was wrong?

"Umm…" Mikan said in a shy voice, "Narumi-sensei told me to tell you that you have to say 'I love you' to me as a practice for the play… So…" Her eyes drifted to the corner in embarrassment and she was fiddling her fingers.

There it was. He was snapped back into reality, realizing it wasn't a confession after all. After a dead long silence, Mikan's gaze turned to look at him again. "…Ruka-pyon?" She was about to touch his face when he finally spoke.

"Sakura-san," he whispered, but it was loud enough for her to hear. He paused and pursed his lips slowly. "Truthfully," he hesitated and held her hand that was extending towards him. "I love you."

--

"Natsume," a voice came from behind him. He turned slightly and peeked through his manga after slipping it off a bit. Koko was standing in front of him without his grin, oddly enough.

"What?" he replied in a dull voice. Koko hesitated and sat beside the boy lying down.

"You don't mind me sitting here?" Koko asked politely.

_No._

"Haha, okay," the mind-reader replied with an awkward laugh. "Can I ask you something…? Coz, I was wondering about Sakura and I suppose you might know," he said.

_Mikan? What about her? _Natsume mentally asked as he turned his body to face the mind-reader.

Koko was hesitant. He looked away for a second but jerked his head back to face Natsume again, afraid Natsume would burn something if he took his time dazing. "You know that time Reo captured her?" Koko mumbled. Natsume flinched slightly. "I was wondering how he managed to… Use his voice pheromones worked on her," he murmured, "and why Sakura was acting weirdly these days."

_You noticed she was here the other day…? _ Natsume asked mentally as he got up to a sitting position.

"Yea," Koko replied. "There was no way I couldn't recognize her through her thoughts… But they seemed a bit jumbled up for the past few days," he said softly. "Although, today she seemed fine," he stated. "But the other days… I couldn't understand what she…" he trailed off, his voice really low. He was looking at the grass now, puzzled.

_What did she say?_ Natsume asked mentally again, lazy to reply with his voice. His crimson eyes were staring at the mind-reader who was in a thoughtful mood.

Koko didn't look up. He looked anxious—uncertain. His face was slightly pale and he had cold sweat rolling down his cheek although the weather wasn't humid. "I don't think I…" he began. Then, he shook his head. "I mean,… This may be something she didn't want anyone to hear... But I still don't get it," he said, still trying to figure out the _puzzle_.

Instead of burning Koko, Natsume listened attentively. He too, was curious at what the girl meant in whatever words that had confused Koko. But still, Koko _wasn't_ a genius like he was—no offense.

Then, Koko rose and stretched his arms. "I'll tell you another time," he told Natsume. "And don't burn me," he continued, "I don't think this is the right time."

Natsume watched the brown-haired boy leave with a grave expression. He wasn't telling him something, and Natsume didn't like it. He held his manga up and continued to read it while thinking of Koko's words. It wasn't like Koko to be so gloomy. It wasn't like him at all.

Koko walked away and thought about Mikan's mind, confused. She had been saying weird things and her nullification alice had been going on and off at times so he couldn't get what she meant sometimes—some peculiar sentences that didn't mean anything, sometimes he was cut off when Mikan abruptly switched on her alice and sometimes she was stopping in half her sentences.

Koko sighed in confusion. It was actually rather irritating for him not to understand what she was saying even though he could read her mind—well, sometimes. It had been something he wanted to know as well. Then he jerked his head to look up. He didn't manage to get his answers from Natsume yet. The crimson-eyed boy had not answered any of his questions—he had only asked Koko his own.

_Is this on purpose?_ Koko mentally asked himself. _Is he hiding something?_ But then Koko sighed. He himself was hiding something from everyone else too. Something the brunette had been keeping secretly to herself. Something that only he out of the entire class knew. Shouldn't that have been enough? He knew more than the rest—but most of the information he had didn't make much sense. Koko quickly rushed back to his room to check on something—for more information.

--

"R-R-Ruka-pyon?" Mikan stuttered as blood rushed to her cheeks quickly.

Ruka was looking at her with mesmerizing blue eyes that looked like gems. The dim sunlight from the sunset shone on his eyes, making them shine brightly. His blonde hair looked absolutely amazing with the sun shining on it. His eyes were soft and warm, radiating a sweet aura, making Mikan feel less tense.

"Sakura-san," he whispered. Mikan felt her cheeks go hot and her heartbeat starting to pace up. "I really do," he whispered as he moved closer to her face, still holding her hand. "I love you," he continued.

Mikan was frozen with both shock and embarrassment. She couldn't get any words from her mouth. She only could stare at the handsome blonde boy who seemed more manly than cute now.

"Can I," he began again, "call you Mikan now?" His eyes were pleading and they still looked mesmerizing—stunning—sparkly.

"Sure." Mikan managed to let her words escape her lips but only barely. And even then, it was still soft! But Ruka had heard it. And was now smiling.

"Thank you," he whispered. Ruka put his lips onto her cheek softly and slowly. Mikan's eyes widened and her face was red. She then shut them slowly and cautiously. "Mikan."

_Kyaa! Isn't this adorable?! xDxD.. I apologize to Natsume and Mikan lovers. But you __**have**__ to admit the part with Ruka__** was **__cute. Ah… Ruka! xD… I told you it'd be good. And Natsume __**might**__ get jealous… Mwahahahahahahaha! xD Get ready! And please, reviews! xDxDxD And that includes _ _**you**__!! _

_A little note : That includes you two, Deanna and Ry!_


	8. Unconsciousness

I'm so sorry to the readers who have been supporting me all this time

_I'm so sorry to the readers who have been supporting me all this time! I admit I've been such an ass (mind my language) and have been neglecting all my stories on fanfic. I deeply apologize (again) and hope you all are still reading my story. Thank you for all your support xD ..I had to reread my own story to remind myself what I was writing about… Ah… And well, now that the apologies are done (but I'm not sure you forgive me…) I think its best I start the story._

**Unconsciousness**

(a short recap…)

"Sakura-san," he whispered. Mikan felt her cheeks go hot and her heartbeat starting to pace up. "I really do," he whispered as he moved closer to her face, still holding her hand. "I love you," he continued.

Mikan was frozen with both shock and embarrassment. She couldn't get any words from her mouth. She only could stare at the handsome blonde boy who seemed more manly than cute now.

"Can I," he began again, "call you Mikan now?" His eyes were pleading and they still looked mesmerizing—stunning—sparkly.

"Sure." Mikan managed to let her words escape her lips but only barely. And even then, it was still soft! But Ruka had heard it. And was now smiling.

"Thank you," he whispered. Ruka put his lips onto her cheek softly and slowly. Mikan's eyes widened and her face was red. She then shut them slowly and cautiously. "Mikan."

(end of recap)

Wind blew into the classroom through the open window, blowing the brunette's hair around. Sakura petals blew and circled the two. Mikan's face was starting to cool down, her blood flowing normally. However, what the two didn't know was that outside the classroom, a raven-haired boy stood against the sliding door. He then stood properly and walked away quietly.

After a few minutes, Ruka moved away from the girl, realizing what he just did, his face turning into a scarlet red. However, he wasn't the only one who noticed. Mikan's face was bright flashing red, her right hand covering her cheek. The two of them looked at each other, speechless. Ruka was the first to get his words together.

"M-Mikan," he spoke, his blue eyes watching her every movement.

"H-Hai!?" Mikan answered quickly but she was tense. Mikan looked at the floor, her cheeks still bright red.

Ruka pursed his lips together and took a deep breath in. "H-H-How was my acting?!" he asked, raising his voice and squeezing his eyes shut. It wasn't an act. It was confession, really. But the blonde didn't control himself properly. It was too straightforward and he was scared he had made the girl afraid. He couldn't believe what he had just done either.

"Eh…?" Mikan looked up at the blonde. _It was just…An act?_ "Ah! It… It was amazing," she said, embarrassed at the fact she had misunderstood the situation. "Ahah, Ruka-pyon, you're really good at acting… I thought…" she trailed off. Ruka looked at her with eyes that showed pain in them. He wanted to tell her that it was the truth. He really did love her. He truly did. But he didn't want their current relationship to be disturbed. "You were amazing," she said again.

"Arigatou," he said, smiling. _I can wait. _He thought. _If it's for her, I can wait. I'll wait till she's ready for a proper relationship._ "Ne, let's practice a bit more, shall we?"

"Mm!" she agreed.

--

Then sun had set and it was dark. The sky was filled with shimmering stars, glowing brightly in the darkness that consumed it. A raven-headed boy lay on the sakura tree, his arm on his face. His crimson eyes opened slightly and he turned to face the other side.

"_Sakura-san… I really do," Ruka's voice could be heard._

_The raven-haired boy stopped on his tracks. Ruka's voice sounded serious._

"_I love you."_

_No reply was heard from the brunette. The raven-haired boy twitched and his eyes widened. Then the blonde spoke again._

"_Can I… Call you Mikan now?"_

"_Sure," the brunette's words were so silent. However, being as sharp as ever, the raven-haired heard it. _

Natsume turned to the other side and pursed his lips. He knew the blonde liked the brunette. Everyone did. And somehow his best friend had gotten the guts to make a move. He wasn't going to disturb that. He supported his friend. But it made him feel so—

"Natsume!"

The raven-haired boy jerked up and looked down from the tree coldly. Koko stood on the grass below, facing the boy. _What is it?_ Natsume asked mentally. Koko sighed.

"I checked up something," Koko shouted out so Natsume would be able to hear. The mind-reader didn't show up with a goofy grin as usual. His face was anxious, yet somehow composed. "Can you come down here so I can speak to you properly than shout?" he asked, picking up his bravery to ask the fire-caster to do so. Natsume jumped down from the tree and took a glance at Koko before sitting down.

"What did you check up on?" he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Before that," Koko said, "can you answer my questions first?" Natsume glared at the mind-reader.

_What?_ He mentally asked the mind-reader, still half-glaring.

"I want to know about how Reo managed to get Sakura under his pheromone," Koko half-demanded.

… _He drugged her. Is that all? _Natsume looked at Koko. _What did you hear?_

Koko didn't look back. The silence engulfed both of them. Then he spoke.

"She abruptly switches on her alice and sometimes she was stops halfway in her sentences," Koko explained. "Her sentences don't make sense."

"Like what?" Natsume asked.

"…" Koko stared at the floor. "Well, she seems to be having these weird dreams…" Koko slowly descended onto the grass. "Where she sees someone… And she always says things like '_I will be coming to get…' _and suddenly switches her alice on." Koko looked anxious. "I don't know… It's just, her words are weird, and…" the mind-reader got up. He was fidgety and somehow couldn't relax. The fire-caster patiently waited. "She keeps on mentioning returning to something…" Koko pursed his lips. "It just feels like she's leaving us soon."

"Why do you say that?" the raven-haired boy asked. He was definitely listening now. His eyes watching Koko's every move, listening attentively to every word the boy said. There was something Koko knew but others didn't. Only Koko knew.

"I don't know," Koko said, but he seemed upset. "She once said this sentence fully, though, '_It's coming soon… I know it. And I'll follow him. I owe him that much. At least that much.' … _But I don't get it." Natsume got up.

"I'll go check if her alice is on," Natsume told him. Koko nodded.

"It's on," Koko told him. "That's why she can stop me from reading her mind."

"Did you try today?" Natsume asked him. She had suddenly recovered well today and was fine. Her gaze had always drifted to the window, which was odd.

Koko paused. "No…"

_Hn. _Natsume replied mentally, as if it was already an answer to the fact he should check if her alice was on. . The black cat soon disappeared, leaving Koko at the sakura tree.

--

"_I love you!_" Ruka said, his face turning into bright scarlet red. He took Mikan's hand and looked at her. "Please."

Mikan looked stunned. Ruka's acting (well, not really) was becoming more and more realistic. "S-Sugoi!" **-amazing**

"Ruka-pyon! You've finally managed to say those words!" Mikan clapped happily. Ruka grinned. Mikan hugged him. "Mission accomplished!" Ruka's eyes widened at the fact Mikan was hugging him but soon softened as he smiled happily.

"I think it's time we go for dinner," he suggested. Mikan nodded in agreement.

"Ah, wait, you go on first, I'm just going to get something from my room," she insisted.

"I can accompany you," Ruka offered.

Mikan smiled sweetly at the boy, causing him to blush slightly. "It's okay, I'll be there soon." And with that, she ran towards her room. She swung her door and was about to turn on her light until she heard a voice.

"Mikan."

The brunette looked up and saw a figure on her open window. The moon light was calm and warm and illuminated her room. The wind was warm even though it was night and blew calmly past her face. The figure hopped into her room and took a step forward.

"Natsume?" Mikan called out and walked towards him. Suddenly, a flame burst into life, hovering over the air in between them, disturbing the calm sensation. "W-What are you—?"

"Nullify it," Natsume ordered. "You can do that much, can't you?"

"Eh?" Mikan took a step back. "Why… So suddenly?"

"Just do it." Natsume's voice seemed dark and cold. His crimson eyes had a slight blaze in them. His existence scared Mikan at this point.

"Ah… H-Hai," Mikan replied. She looked at the flame and nullified it. "…"

"Mikan," he spoke again. The brunette looked at him, indicating she was listening. This wasn't what he had expected. But as long as she wasn't under the pheromone, then it was fine. Maybe she had other reasons because of her weird behavior. It couldn't be Reo. It couldn't be. But whatever it was… He had to say something. He wasn't going to allow her to leave without an excuse. He'd stop her if she attempted to. And he would have to warn her.

"Whatever it is… Don't leave. Consider how Ruka would feel if you did."

"Eh…?" Mikan was confused. "Natsume, what are you—?"

"Just remember that," he cut her off and jumped from her window. Mikan stood there, dumbfounded.

"What was…?" she silently asked herself. She slumped onto her bed and placed her hand on it. "I'm sorry," she spoke so softly. Her eyes were lifeless again. "He's coming, and I've got to go." A knock came from her door. Her eyes snapped open and were lifeless again. "Eh…? What was I…?" _Knock!_ Mikan got up from her bed and grabbed 4 boxes which were wrapped with colourful paper and ribbons, shoved them all into a small bag and headed to the door.

The nullifier opened the door, revealing a brown-haired boy who looked at her anxiously. "Sakura?"

"Eh? Koko? What's wrong?" Mikan asked, shocked on his sudden visit. Koko didn't usually visit her. Unless… It was a prank?

"Umm… May I come in…? Or… Oh, you were already going to leave," Koko smiled. It was simple for him since Mikan wasn't having her alice on at the moment.

Mikan looked at Koko and smiled. "Ah, I was just going for dinner. Want to come with me? Or have you already—?"

"Ah, I'll come. I haven't eaten yet," he replied her question in advance. Mikan pouted.

"It's not fair! You can read peoples minds!" Koko sweat-dropped.

Koko laughed lightly. "It's because its my alice."

"Oh yeah!" Mikan exclaimed as she turned and dug something out from her small bag. She took out a nicely wrapped box which its height and width was only the size of her small hands. "Here!" she cheerfully said and passed it to Koko. "I found it at a shop last time I went to Central Town."

"A silver keychain of an open book with a heart in the pages representing the fact I can read other people's hearts," Koko said, with his goofy grin.

"…"

"…"

"IT'S NOT FAIR!!" Mikan yelled. "You're not supposed to know till you opened it!" She pouted.

"Ahah, the greatness of having the ability to read minds…" Koko said, stating a fact.

"Grr…" Mikan growled. "It's _not_ fair!"

"Mikan?" a voice called.

Mikan turned. "Eh?" The two hadn't noticed that they had actually been talking for a long time and were now in the cafeteria already. In front of them was a table where a blonde-haired boy sat with a raven-haired boy. By the looks of it, the blonde boy had called her.

_Mikan?_ The raven-haired boy mentally asked himself. Then he looked up once at Mikan.

"Don't forget what I told you."

The three of them—Mikan, Natsume and Ruka jerked their heads to face the mind-reader. Koko received a glare from Natsume for reading his mind and two confused faces from Ruka and Mikan. But the brunette soon understood that the mind-reader had read Natsume's mind.

"Eheh…"

"What did you tell her?" Ruka asked Koko, completely clueless. Koko gave his goofy grin with his short laugh.

_If you say anything, I'll burn you._ Koko received another sharp glare from the fire-caster, making him sweat-drop. "Ahah, nothing…" Koko said, leaving it short.

"Ah!" Mikan suddenly yelled, breaking the awkwardness. "Oh yeah," she mumbled and dug into her bag again. "Here! Ruka-pyon!" Mikan held out another box which was wrapped nicely. Ruka's cheeks turned into a slight red which wasn't noticeable.

"A-Arigatou…" Ruka answered and took the present. Looking at the brunette reminded him of the time he kissed her on the cheek, causing him to turn bright red. However, this didn't go unnoticed by the mind-reader.

"Ah…" Koko suddenly spoke. "Ruka… You're actually quite bold. Ahahaha…" Mikan looked at the mind-reader, confused. The blonde boy, fully understanding what Koko meant turned redder. And redder. "But it wasn't really an act, ahahah…" Koko continued. Natsume soon understood what the mind-reader meant. Ruka pretended to be acting, but he wasn't. The raven-haired boy looked away, his crimson eyes becoming darker by the minute.

Ruka shook his head quickly, trying to regain his composure. He opened the present, carefully not tearing the wrapping paper. He took off the lid of the box, revealing keychain with a small, white bunny dangling at the end of it. The bunny's eyes were a bright turquoise blue—just like his.

"Ah… It's nice, Mikan," Ruka said. "Arigatou."

"_Mikan_?" Koko spoke. "Ahah, a good step forward!"

(Sakura is Mikan's surname. In Japanese culture, people only say the real name, exp: Mikan, when they are really close)

"Koko, I don't get it," Mikan spoke, disoriented. Koko grinned again.

"It's okay, you don't have to," the mind-reader said. "Natsume-san," he called out. The fire-caster looked up at him. _What?_ Natsume asked mentally. "You actually have seen _that_ haven't you?" _Don't tell Ruka. I'll burn you. _Koko sweat-dropped.

"That?" Ruka was the one confused now.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"AHH! JEEZ! LET'S JUST EAT!" Mikan yelled and started to eat her one-star meal. "It's annoying! I don't get anything!" Ruka and Koko sweat-dropped. Every person in the cafeteria was looking at them because of Mikan's sudden yell.

"That's because you're stupid, polka-dots," Natsume spoke, smirking. A vein popped on Mikan's head.

"…" Mikan put down her chopsticks. The silence was deafening. Everyone was quiet. "NATSUME YOU PERVERT!!"

--

At the Sakura Tree

"Jeez, why is Natsume such a pervert!? ECCHI! BAKA! HENTAI!" Mikan yelled. "ARGH! JEEZ!" Mikan sat on the green, warm grass and left her bag on the side. "Baka…"

"Who're you insulting, huh?" a dark voice asked from above.

"Eh?" Mikan looked up, managing to see a raven-headed figure. "AH! NATSUME!" She yelled, jumping up and prepared her fighting stance.

"Stop shouting, baka," Natsume complained, putting one of his hands on his ear. The calm wind blew past them, and the moonlight's illumination felt inviting. Mikan soon calmed down and lay on the grass, shutting her eyes.

"Oi," Natsume suddenly spoke. No answer. "Oi," he called again and looked down. The girl had her eyes shut and was motionless. The fire-caster jumped down from the tree. She was unconscious. The raven-headed boy looked at her. _…She's sleeping._ His eyes softened. "Airi," he spoke softly. Airi was the name of the girl Mikan was supposed to be acting for in the school festival. "…" The girl was fast asleep. Her hair tangled in her small hands which were laid beside her face. And her lips were slightly open. The raven-headed boy lowered his face. Putting his lips on hers.

_Ahah! I hope its okay! xD… It's sweet, I suppose xD … But this is actually just a peaceful day. Other things will be coming!... GET READY! xD … I'll be updating soon. My holidays have started and I think it's best I devote myself into this story. Hopefully I'll be able to update again today or tomorrow. Whichever. Hope you enjoyed this chappie xD … I'll explain everything about Mikan's odd behavior another time xDxDxD … Updating soon!. The hint for the next chapter is...  
_

_He's back...  
_


	9. He Returns

Ah

_Ah. I think this is much faster than last time, don't you? The time taken to publish a new chapter, I mean. But I didn't get that many reviews! Dx … And that's not cool … I'd really love to get reviews from all of you who read my story… Please review!! … Hope you like this chapter though. REVIEWS! xD_

**He Returns**

In the darkness of the night, stars shimmered brightly and the silver moon was glowing dimly, making the dark much brighter than usual. It was a full moon that night. And a body lay under a big cherry blossom tree as the calm wind blew past the field. A pair of hazel eyes slowly opened, at first they were soft but soon became alive once more. The brunette slowly gently rose from the grass by using her arm to support her light body. Her other hand reached her mouth, placing her fingers on her lips.

"That's weird…" the words were only spoken in a mere whisper, "It's as if I can feel a warm sensation on my lips…"

Mikan sat up from the ground and looked up. The black cat was gone. "Natsume left?" she asked herself softly.

"Who's gone?"

Mikan turned and saw him. Natsume was leaning against the tree trunk, only a meter away from her. His crimson eyes watched her attentively, not looking away. Somehow, it didn't seem natural. Mikan felt awkward in front of him. No, it wasn't love. It just felt awkward—like he was being protective over her. But she couldn't see why. She was back to normal.

Koko had described her weird behavior. However, the culprit herself seemed to be unaware of her odd behavior. She acted normal. She _was_ normal. But those times when she blanked of into space, her thoughts were wary and confusing. That's what Koko had once said when they were alone. It was like she turned into a different person during those brief moments.

Natsume wanted to know why. But no one had the answers. Not even Mikan herself.

"Oi," Natsume finally spoke, breaking the awkward silence. "What are you staring at?" Mikan turned around.

"Nothing." The brunette spun around and stared at the sky and used both her hands to support herself by putting them at the back of her body. Her hair dangled onto her sleeveless arms. Her eyes which were full of life soon grew darker till there was no more light in them. This caught Natsume's attention. But according to the mind-reader, she came back to normal people called her. The fire when -caster got up and stood in front of the girl, glaring at her. No response.

"… Oi, Mi—" Suddenly, the wind blew viciously pass them, blowing many sakura petals off the tree and bringing them along into the sky.

"Reo." The wind slowed to a calm breeze. Natsume snapped his head to the girl, his eyes wide open with terror.

Natsume lowered his body to match the level with him and her. "Mikan?" he called, sweat tricking down his face. It couldn't be. She couldn't still be under his spell. There was no way. The drug was gone, her alice was still there.

Mikan blinked. When she opened her eyes, her hazel brown eyes were filled with life. She looked back at the fire-caster who kneeled in front of her, watching her cautiously again. Why? "Natsume?" she asked. "Wait… What are you doing so close to me!?" she screamed. A vein popped on Natsume's head.

"Idiot," he spoke. She was fine. He tried to convince himself that. There was nothing wrong. Nothing. But deep inside, he could feel that he was telling himself that there was something wrong. He looked at her and flicked a finger on her forehead.

"_Ouch!_" she yelled. "W-What are you doing?!"

"You're so stupid, polka-dots."

"P-Pervert!" she grimaced at him. "Ah! I just remembered," she said, grabbing the bag she had left beside her. She took out another one of her boxes and handed it to him.

"What's this?" Natsume asked. "Your stupid puffy thing again?"

"It's not! And the sweets are _not _stupid!" Mikan yelled, three veins popped on her head. Natsume unwrapped the present and lifted the lid. It wasn't a keychain. It was a pair of earrings, the bead blood-red in colour.

Natsume fiddled them in his fingers. "I got something pretty good," he said. Mikan looked at him, shocked at his words. "From someone like _you." _He emphasized 'you', but it didn't go unnoticed by the nullifier.

"Grr…" she growled. "What do you mean from someone like me?!" Natsume smirked.

"It means," Natsume said, "that even idiots can get nice things as gifts."

"NATSUME NO BAKA!!" Mikan yelled.

--

Mikan was all ready to sleep. Teeth brushed, hair combed, pajamas on, cream applied. She turned off her lights and buried herself underneath her covers of her bed. Soon, she drifted into her slumber.

However, there was only one thing she had forgotten to do. Something she had always forgotten to do those nights. She left her window open. A figure entered her window and sat beside the brunette who was fast asleep. This figure had bright red hair which shone in the moonlight. He touched the motionless figure by her face, cupping it in one of his hands. With a simple touch from him, the brunette awoke, her eyes lifeless and dull once more. She sat up slowly and looked at the figure.

"Come here," he called, not releasing his hand from her face. The brunette crawled towards him, and sat in front of him, facing him. "Good girl." The red-haired figure caressed her head softly and gently, making sure he didn't hurt her. "It won't be long till I'll really take you with me, so be patient." Mikan nodded, shutting her eyes and leaned on his shoulder.

The figure paused. But soon, he spoke again. "It's good I told you this order—before you were taken away by those idiots—so you would return to becoming my obedient puppet whenever I spoke or touched you even if your alice is on." He moved his fingers, touching the brunette's smooth cheeks. "If you dazed, you would be reminded of me. However when you come to your senses, the spell will be broken." The figure removed his hands from her cheeks and lowered it to her hand, holding it. "But when you're with me, the spell won't be broken till I'm gone… Isn't that right, Mikan?"

"Hai," the brunette spoke, "Reo-sama."

--

The next day…

KRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!

The brunette got up groggily, slapping her alarm clock to make the sound stop and rose from her bed. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and opened them. The hazel brown eyes shone in the sunlight, looking like light brown gems. She yawned and walked to her toilet, getting ready. Mikan entered the showers and allowed the water to flow onto her skin. The warm water was inviting. After taking a shower, she got dressed into her uniform and tied her hair to the back into a ponytail. She left her fringe dangling on her face, and smiled at herself in the mirror.

"Okay!" she said enthusiastically. "Time to go for school!"

--

The classroom was noisy as usual. Nothing unordinary there. Then, the door banged open. "Ohayou, minna!" a cheerful brunette stood there, grinning happily. The raven-haired boy who usually never looked away from his manga took a slight peek. Ruka smiled at her, inviting her over to sit next to him and his best friend. Hotaru gave a small smile, clearly aware that the brunette seemed to be much better than before. In fact, when she came in, everyone had a small smile for the girl.

"Ah! Hotaru," Mikan called out happily. The inventor looked at her best friend with her purple eyes lighting up slightly. The brunette was like a sun in the class. A person who made people feel happy. A person who would be there when someone was down. The _only_ person who was always cheerful no matter what.

"Here!" Mikan said, handing the inventor a present. Hotaru took it and started opening it.

"It's a bracelet with the letters 'BFF'" a voice said. Mikan snapped her head to the person who spoke. "Mikan says, 'I hope you like it, Hotaru'." Koko. He had his goofy smile on again.

"Grr…" Mikan growled. Her eyes flaring up. "Koko! You're not supposed to tell her!" Mikan chased after the mind-reader who started laughing while running away from her.

Hotaru took out the bracelet and wore it. A small smile formed on her lips, but wasn't able to be seen by others.

"Ah… Mikan," a voice called. Mikan stopped chasing Koko and turned to look at the blonde boy. Ruka smiled at her. "Arigatou, for the keychain," he said, pointing at the keychain that was dangling from his pencil box.

_Mikan?_ The entire classroom stopped. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the two. When had the blonde boy start calling the brunette by her name instead of her surname? Soon, the entire class had evil grins (except Natsume and Hotaru). The blonde had finally taken a step forward…

"Ah, I'm glad you like it," Mikan replied, grinning. Ruka blushed lightly, not as dark as usual, now that he was getting used to the brunette.

"Ruka…" The class chorused… Ruka turned, facing the class and gasped at the amount of evil grins aimed at him. Ruka sweat-dropped.

"You took a step!"

"Ruka, you devil!"

"What did you do to her, huh?"

All these shouts made Ruka blush uncontrollably. "I-I didn't do anything…"

"Liar!!" The class laughed. The blonde was going redder. And redder. And redder.

"Oi," Natsume spoke, breaking the laughter in class. "Shut up, it's noisy." The class went silent. But there was always one person who didn't listen to him.

"What's with you?" Mikan asked, still smiling. "Don't be so moody!" And when one started, more came.

"Yeah, Natsume!" Koko grinned.

"Lighten up!" Kitsuneme joined in as he started floating around in class.

"Yeah! Yeah!"

A vein popped on Natsume's head. Before he could say anything, Narumi entered class.

"Okay! Everyone, we'll be rehearsing again!" Narumi called out to the entire class.

"HAI!!" they yelled out. Natsume sighed, annoyed.

--

Acting (:

"Airi, who would you choose, Touka or me?" Riku asked, taking the brunette by her hand. His turquoise blue eyes glittered, showing love and compassion, truly asking the brunette.

"I-I… I don't know," Airi stuttered. "R-Riku-sama, I—"

"You can't choose him," Touka protested sarcastically. "You must choose me…"

"But I—!" Airi cried.

"I challenge you then, Riku…!" Touka said, his voice flat and expressionless.

"Eh?! No, no fighting!" Airi protested, her eyes almost tearing.

"I accept," Riku replied boldly.

"No! You two must not fight!" The blonde turned to look at her and cupped her face in his hands.

Squeals could be heard coming from the audience. The raven-haired boy twitched at his best friend's sudden move which had no hesitance in it.

"Airi," he said softly and lovingly, "please understand."

"But still! Fighting is not the way, Touka-sama, Riku-sama!!" Airi yelled in an anxious voice, her tears forming, threatening to fall.

"Whoa," a whisper from behind came. "When did Mikan get so good at acting?"

"Airi, you do realize that we're doing all of this for you," Touka said, his voice suddenly becoming stronger.

"Airi-chan," Riku said, bringing her face closer to his, "You must understand you have to choose me," he said the words slowly and passionately. The brunette could feel her cheeks burning up. The usual blonde boy was timid and shy. But now, right in front of her, he looked so serious. His turquoise blue eyes shining up like gems—shining as if he was really in love. His eyes were soft and gentle, telling her everything was fine. "Because I love you." The boy sounded so sure. So confident. The brunette was speechless.

"…"

"And cut!"

_Clap. _

_Clap!_

_Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!_

(end of acting)

The entire classroom was filled with applauds and claps. They soon crowded around Ruka and Mikan.

"Wow, Ruka!! You sounded so serious!"

"Mikan! Amazing! You actually cried!"

"Natsume," Narumi called. The raven-haired boy was sitting beside the window, leaning on the wall. His eyes narrowed when the teacher called him. "You have to act with more emotion! We won't be getting anywhere like this."

"Shut up, gay freak," Natsume said, his voice deep and somehow angered.

"Natsume," Mikan said, looking at him sort of anxiously. "Cheer up! What's with you!? Come on!" she yelled cheerfully. "See? Even Ruka-pyon can do this!" she said, hugging Ruka from behind.

"W-What do you mean _even_ me?!" Ruka protested. Everyone started laughing. A few people whistled at the two.

Natsume got up and headed to the door. "W-Wait! Natsume, where are you—?" Mikan called. Just then, the bell rang.

"Class is over," Natsume informed them and left.

"What's wrong with him?" Mikan asked.

"I don't know," Kitsuneme replied.

"Natsume…" Ruka whispered anxiously.

"A-Ano, Ruka-pyon," Mikan called. Ruka turned to face the brunette. "Want to come with me?"

"Eh? Where to?" the blonde asked, blushing at the fact the girl he liked was asking him to follow her somewhere. "Ah, I mean, I'll come… I'm free after all…"

"Okay, let's go?" Mikan asked.

"Ah, hai."

When the two had left, the class erupted into applause and whistles. "GO RUKA!" the chorused. They laughed happily and cheered. This was definitely the blonde's day.

--

"Where are we going to?" the blonde finally asked.

"I think we'd better check up on Natsume," the brunette suggested. "After all, Ruka-pyon is Natsume's best friend," she said, turning to face the blonde and smiled.

"Ah… Yeah," Ruka agreed. Natsume was acting odd. And Ruka was determined to find out why. The fire-caster never usually said anything. But with Mikan there, he might just reveal what he was bothered about.

Then they reached the sakura tree. The fire-caster lay on it, reading his manga.

"N-Natsume," the girl called. Natsume looked at her and saw his best friend standing next to her. He hopped down.

"What's wrong, Ruka?" he asked, ignoring the brunette.

"Ch-Chotto! I'm talking here!" Mikan protested.

"…"

"Ah!" Mikan squealed. Natsume and Ruka turned to look at her. Mikan was being carried, her eyes wide with shock.

"If you're going to be mean, I'll be taking her away," a voice said.

"Tsubasa-senpai!" Mikan said cheerfully. Tsubasa was holding her bridal style.

"Did you forget? its SA class now," Tsubasa informed Mikan.

"Oh yeah!" Mikan gasped. "G-Gomen, Tsubasa-senpai! Did you come all the way here just to get me?"

"Yeah," Tsubasa replied, "Because you're the one who keeps us alive, remember?" Tsubasa gave a twinkling wink at her, making Natsume and Ruka twitch.

"Ah… G-Gomen…" Mikan apologized.

"If you're so sorry, maybe you can kiss me as an apology," Tsubasa grinned at his kouhai.

"Eh…?" Mikan asked, confused. Tsubasa brought the girl who was in his arms closer to him and lowered his head closer to her. Ruka watched with anxiety, and was about to protest.

_Whack!_

"Ouch!" the shadow-manipulator yelled and grabbed the girl with one arm, swinging her onto his shoulder to make sure she wouldn't fall before using his other hand to rub the back of his head. Mikan looked at the floor, spotting a manga.

"Ch-Chotto, Natsume! What are you doing to Tsubasa-senpai?" Mikan asked, annoyed. The raven-haired boy turned around, putting his hands in his pockets and left the scene.

"Natsume!" Ruka called, and ran after his best friend.

"That hurt," Tsubasa said, letting down his kouhai while rubbing the back of his head.

Mikan turned to her senpai and rushed to the back of him. She placed her hand on his, where the pain was. "Are you okay, Tsubasa-senpai?" she asked, her hazel brown eyes filled with anxiety. Her fringe dangled onto her cheek and her lips full with the colour pink. The brunette looked utterly cute—and or beautiful—and would make many guys around her blush. No one noticed, but the shadow-manipulator's face blushed slightly before he grinned, making his face return to his normal colour.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he said. "Shall we go now?"

"Yeah!"

_Chapter ended! It didn't take too long to update this time xD… I'm not too sure about the next chapter though. I've got some work to do before my school holidays end and I've got to start sometime. Ahah, I'll be waiting for reviews, by the way. I didn't get that many from my previous chapter and am looking forward for some in this one. Hehe… Tsubasa-senpai blushed xD … Natsume got jealous xD… Hope you liked this chapter. _

_PLEASE REVIEW._

_**CLICK THE GO BUTTON.**__ Go on, click it! xD_


	10. Preparation

_Wahaha! xD … It's been some time since I've updated (I'm sorry) and I thought I'd better start sooner or later. My school work isn't done yet, though……… Uhh… I'll do that later~! xD Anyways, loads of thanks to my friend on cr, kamichamakidx3, who reminded me of my story. (Thanks loads!) … Hope you all like this chappie. xD_

**Preparation**

Beside him was the brunette. The brunette's hair flew around her as the wind passed by and her eyelashes were long even though she wasn't wearing any makeup. Her lips were moist and full with colour. Her hands were soft. And _they were holding hands_. The shadow-manipulator blushed at the fact the brunette was so pretty. He shook his head once more and squeezed his hand tighter on the brunette's.

"Tsubasa-senpai," Mikan suddenly spoke.

"Hmm?" the shadow-manipulator replied, turning to face the brunette. His eyes were tinkling cheerfully as usual, suiting his character.

"How's the preparation for the school festival going?" she asked. Then, she looked down. "I haven't been helping much…" She looked a little down at the fact she hadn't much of any use lately. Tsubasa looked at her and gave her a soft smile.

Mikan was swept off her feet into her senpai's arms. She looked up at him. He was smiling at her. Not the normal kind of smile, but a soft, sweet one. Seeing her senpai like that made her blush a little. "Don't worry about it," Tsubasa said, his voice more sweet than cheerful. "All you have to worry about now is helping us _now._" The shadow-manipulator gave her a quick wink and his cheerful smile was back again. Mikan smiled.

"Yeah!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Natsume?"

The raven-haired boy looked at his best friend. "What is it?" he said and lay on the grass, shutting his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Ruka asked, concerned for his best friend. Natsume's eyes opened slightly as he stared into nothingness.

The silence engulfed both of them. Ruka sat down beside the fire-caster and looked at the keychain which was dangling from his pencil box while waiting for an answer. "I'm fine," Natsume finally spoke. His answer was short and simple and it was obvious he didn't want to elaborate. A bright gem shone from Natsume's ear. Ruka turned and looked at it.

"Are those new?" Ruka asked. "The blood-coloured earrings."

Natsume's eyes twitched and grew softer—not like anyone would notice. "Hn." He raised his hand to his ear and touched the bead. A small smile formed on his lips, but it was too subtle for anyone to notice either.

"When did you buy them?" Ruka asked.

Natsume released his hand from the earrings and put it behind his head to support it. "I didn't."

Ruka turned his head to look at the raven-haired boy. His best-friend rarely accepted presents from people other than him. Even if Natsume did accept them, he usually never did anything with them. But this one… "Who gave it to you?" the blonde asked, curious.

"A stupid kid."

Ruka sweat-dropped. If it were Youiichi, Natsume wouldn't use the term 'stupid'. It definitely wasn't You-chan. It was someone else—someone Natsume called 'stupid'. And to think he used the earrings. Maybe the fire-caster was getting softer? The blonde shrugged the thought off and continued to look at the keychain. His eyes were filled with love. _Mikan…_

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"Guess who is here?" Tsubasa chirped. Everyone's head turned to face the shadow-manipulator.

"Mikan-chan!" the pink-haired girl called. "You're finally here!"

"Misaki-senpai…" Mikan said happily.

"Mikan!!" the entire room burst with excitement. They had missed the brunette so much. Ever since the time she was kidnapped, she was never able to attend the Special Abilities class.

"We missed you so much, Mikan, and—" Misaki paused. She stared at the two. Mikan was still in her senpai's arms. Suddenly there was a killing aura around her, making Mikan and Tsubasa sweat-drop.

"M-M-Misaki-senpai?" Mikan stuttered.

".Sa…" Misaki said icily. She split herself into another. And another. And another—until a group of her clones was surrounding the two. Misaki was a doppelganger. She split herself into many. There was nothing behind her, but the fact her killing aura was so strong, Mikan and Tsubasa could see flames around her. "_What do you think you're doing to Mikan?!" _she yelled and started to beat him up. One of her 'twins' grabbed Mikan away from the shadow-manipulator.

"Mikan, don't worry," one of Misaki's clones told the brunette. "We'll take care of you from this pervert."

"A-Ah… Mi-Misaki-senpai…" the brunette spoke. "Tsubasa-senpai wasn't being perverted."

All of the clones stopped. "Eh? Then what was he doing to you?" they all chorused as one.

"He was just carrying me. I was… Umm… Tired… And he insisted on carrying me," Mikan said. The clones looked at Tsubasa's corpse.

"OH." Misaki's clones faded and there was only the real one left. "Wha—? Tell me earlier, idiot!" She said, patting Tsubasa's head.

"If you would only give me the chance…" Tsubasa whispered. A vein popped on Misaki's head.

"What was that?" she asked, her eyes filled with flames.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

The rest of the SA class sweat-dropped because of the scene and continued doing they're own work, ignoring Tsubasa who was being beat up by Misaki. All except for Mikan—she watched the two, trying to stop Misaki from beating up Tsubasa.

"Misaki-senpai, what shall I do… To help?" the brunette asked, trying to revert the attention to her. It worked.

The pink-haired girl released the shadow-manipulator and headed to Mikan with smiles. "Mikan, you don't have to push yourself," she said. "We're all happy with just being able to see you." Misaki smiled sweetly. "Just relax today," she insisted, "you can bring that idiot Tsubasa with you if you want. He's useless now."

"Ah… But I don't mind helping," Mikan protested.

"Its fine, it's fine," Misaki insisted again. "We're kind of trying to do something for today so you can help tomorrow. Okay?"

"Ah… Okay…" the brunette replied, unsatisfied. She wanted to help everyone too… Misaki walked away to continue working. Mikan walked up to Tsubasa who was rubbing his cheek in pain on the floor. His cheek was slightly swollen and reddish.

"Ow…" the shadow-manipulator mumbled.

Mikan kneeled in front of her senpai and looked at him with sympathy. She placed her hands on her senpai's cheek and rubbed it softly. Their faces were only 10 centimeters apart. "Are you okay, senpai?" the brunette asked.

"I-I'm fine," Tsubasa said, turning into a slight shade of red and looked down.

"You sure?" Mikan asked, leaning closer.

"I-I'm _fine!_" Tsubasa jumped up. "Haha, I'm really fine. What's up?" he grinned, getting rid of the red shades on his face.

"Umm… Misaki-senpai said that I should relax today," the brunette said, getting up, "and that I could bring you along." Mikan smiled. "But its fine," she said cheerfully, "I shouldn't take up too much of your time." The brunette turned round and headed to the exit.

Suddenly, without warning, Mikan was lifted off her feet. She squealed softly in shock. The arms around her were strong and warm. "I'll go with you," the shadow-manipulator said, his voice sweet, yet somehow insisting. His eyes were serious—and that was definitely not normal for the cheerful boy. But by being serious, he looked much more mature and good-looking, causing the brunette to blush.

"H-Hai…" was the only thing she could get to escape her lips. Tsubasa smiled.

"Okay, then," he said, winking, "shall we go have a stroll?"

"Mm!!" Mikan said enthusiastically.

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"Natsume," the blonde-haired boy called.

"Hn?" the fire-caster mumbled.

"…Never mind. It's nothing." Ruka was looking at something, his face slightly pale and his expression showed that he was annoyed. Natsume glanced in that direction.

Mikan and her senpai were walking together—well, at least her senpai was walking. Mikan was cradled in his arms, laughing. They seemed to be having fun together. And in the position Mikan was in, Ruka did not feel comfortable. The two boys could hear them laughing together.

"Haha, Tsubasa-senpai! Did Misaki-senpai really do that?" Mikan laughed.

"It's true! And Misaki was seriously violent. Geez, she never really takes a joke," Tsubasa laughed. "I guess its best that you brought me with you…" The brunette's senpai grinned at her cheerfully. "Thanks," he said, putting the girl down onto the ground. He took her hand and lifted her hand—and kissed it. The brunette's cheeks flared up immediately, embarrassed.

"_Ow!!_" the shadow-manipulator suddenly yelled. He turned around and saw a raven-haired boy glaring at him with his crimson eyes filled with anger. Beside him, Ruka stood. The blonde-haired boy who usually didn't get angered easily seemed rather disturbed and annoyed. However, what bothered the shadow-manipulator was the fact Natsume had just kicked him.

"N-Natsume!" the brunette yelled. "You're hitting my senpai again! What's with you?"

…_My_ senpai…? All three boys froze. Tsubasa felt slightly embarrassed, yet somehow happy. Ruka seemed to look very disturbed and offended by her words. Natsume did not show anything but he was obviously rather annoyed.

"Tch," Natsume muttered and turned to Tsubasa. "What's with your sexual harassment?"

"What are you talking about?" Tsubasa asked. "We're on a stroll. Right?" he winked at Mikan.

"Mm!"

"You kissed her," Ruka reminded, his voice having an edge of anger.

"Hahahaha… I wonder exactly how many people did so?" a voice laughed. All four turned to the direction of the voice. Koko.

"What do you mean by that?" Tsubasa asked, confused.

"I wonder…" Koko laughed, glancing at both Natsume and Ruka. "Some people are more daring than they seem to be… Hahahaha…" Ruka gulped.

"Koko… Where did you come from?" Mikan asked.

The mind-reader turned to face her. "I was actually asked to call you, Ruka and Natsume-san to come to the class. We're rehearsing."

"Eh…? Okay…" the brunette said. "Well, senpai, I have to go now. Bye."

"Ah, bye," her senpai waved with a grin. "Come tomorrow! You've got a lot of work to do," he winked.

"Of course!" the brunette said as she walked away with her classmates.

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"Okay, class, we've only got a week till the school festival so we're going to have to do this seriously," Narumi announced. "Natsume, you've got to become more enthusiastic."

"I'll kill you," the fire-caster retorted. Everyone in the class sweat-dropped.

"Anyways, we're going to start!!"

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6 days more…

"Okay, then over there, Mikan will have to move there…"

"Hai!" the brunette said cheerfully.

"And then Ruka, hold her hand…"

"O-Okay…"

The blonde held Mikan's hand and kneeled down. "Please marry me."

"Kyaaaa!!" Some girls squealed in the background.

"Shush!" Narumi told them.

"Riku…"

"Okay… And… Cut!! 15 minutes break! Then we're onto the next scene!"

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4 days more…

"Mikan! What do you think of this costume?" Misaki ran towards the brunette.

"It's so pretty!" the brunette said happily. "Misaki-senpai, you should wear that!"

"Ahah, we've still got more to do."

"We?" the brunette asked.

"Yeah, we're doing the dresses together," Misaki said, pointing at her doppelgangers. "Okay! We're off!"

"H-Hai!"

"Mikan! Help me paint this!"

"Okay! I'm coming!"

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2 days more…

"Imai-san! Have you completed your invention for the festival yet?"

"Almost."

"What is it?"

"A secret."

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1 day more…

"Phew! We're all finished!" Mikan said, stretching her arms.

"Yeah," Ruka said.

"It's already night… So let's do something fun!" Mikan said enthusiastically.

"So what're you going to do?" the blonde asked.

"Let's go eat dinner first? There's a buffet for tonight since the festival is tomorrow," Mikan said, grinning.

"Oh, the dinner with the middle school section and high school section?"

"Yeah." Mikan smiled. "Shall we go together?"

"O-Okay."

"Let's get changed first!"

"H-Hai."

**At dinner…**

"Wow!!!" Mikan exclaimed.

There was a huge room filled with many tables and chairs decorated nicely in white cloth. Snowflakes were falling from the top with the use of an alice machine and the floor was covered in a blanket of snow. The scenery was really beautiful and there was even an ice-skating rink in the next room. In the middle there was an enormous table filled with all sorts of food on it.

"It's so pretty!" she said, laughing. Ruka turned and looked at her.

The blonde smiled. "That's not the only thing that's pretty right now," he said.

"Eh?" the brunette asked, confused. She hadn't realized that her appearance was absolutely cute. She wore a white dress which fell slightly above her knees and had small, translucent frills at the end of it. She wore a white choker which had a blue gem in the middle which was small, making it not stand out too much. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail but her fringe was left dangling on the sides of her face. To say she looked nice would be a major understatement.

"You look… Really pretty," Ruka said, blushing lightly. Mikan smiled.

"Thank you," she said sweetly, "You look really good too." Ruka was wearing a white tux which looked magnificent on him. His hair was spike up slightly at the front, making him look much more dashing. With both of them wearing white, they looked like a real couple.

"Thanks," he replied, his blush going slightly deeper. Just then, a snowflake fell on Mikan's head.

"There's snow!!!" Mikan said, smiling widely. "Ruka-pyon! There's snow!!" The brunette grabbed the blonde's hand and started to jump up and down.

"You're really excited," a voice from behind came. The brunette turned around. Narumi.

"Narumi-sensei!!" Mikan said happily. "Yeah! It looks amazing!"

"Haha, well, it did take a lot of effort to get this place ready. Why don't you and Ruka go skate? You two would look real fine together." Narumi winked.

Mikan looked a bit puzzled. "Eh? I don't—"

The blonde boy with a swift yet calming motion, held her hand. "Shall we?" His turquoise blue eyes shimmered brightly, filled with excitement, yet somehow so sweet. The brunette felt like she was being sucked into his mesmerizing eyes. A tint of pink shone on her cheek.

"H-Hai…" she mumbled.

With that, Mikan and Ruka proceeded to the rink, hand in hand. This didn't go unnoticed by their classmates who were nearby. "Ne, ne, that was Ruka and Mikan, wasn't it?" Mochu asked.

"Yeah," Koko replied. 

"Oh… Ruka's a devil~" Kitsuneme laughed.

"Hahaha, Ruka, go for it!" they all shouted loudly. The blonde boy heard it, and his face flared up in embarrassment. Luckily for him, the brunette didn't hear them.

"Hmm… Ice skating, eh?" a voice mumbled from afar.

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"Here, let me help you up," Ruka offered as he stood on the ice with his skates. "Got the skates on properly?"

"Eh. EH? Erm… Yeah. I think," Mikan stuttered unsurely. She took his hand and tried to get up, her feet wobbling. She stood unstably onto the ice and stared at her feet, hoping that they wouldn't betray her.

Ruka noticed her incapableness of standing on the ice and helped her stay up by supporting her. "Have you ever skated before, Mikan?" The two of them skated slowly across the rink, Ruka supporting her by holding her back and her hand.

"Umm… No…" she admitted.

Ruka smiled at her. "Then I'll go get you a pair of beginner skates." And with that, the blonde boy slid past her swiftly yet gracefully.

"Eh? Wait! Umm…" Mikan mumbled but the boy had already gone. Being free—and alone—she used the opportunity to try to skate. "Okay. I can do this," Mikan said to herself and shot her fist into the air, causing herself to slip on the ice and fall backwards. "Ah!"

There was no bang.

No crash.

No bam.

"Eh…?" Mikan blinked. She then realized that she was being supported by a pair of strong arms which held her carefully yet strongly, making sure she didn't fall. The brunette looked up and stared into a pair of aquamarine eyes which were sparkling and gazing into her hazel brown eyes. The person had dark blue hair which would appear to be black in the shadows, but since the room was filled with light, it was clearly dark blue. His hair was spiked up nicely and neatly, making the guy absolutely dashing. He was taller than Mikan by a few inches. But what Mikan noticed, was that there was no hat. "Tsubasa-senpai?" she questioned, unsure.


	11. Moonlit Night part 1

_OH VEYY. It has been a while now I suppose. Hmm… More than half a year? Eheh. My bad. And you all have my deepest apologies! Really, I'm so sorry. I've been really busy (and lazy, I admit) so I haven't been updating. Another thing is that my Gakuen Alice fanfic doesn't really get as many reviews or do as well as my La Corda D' Oro fic so I had been updating on the other fic, really. Dx Anyways, I'd be really happy if all of you continue reading my fanfics and REVIEW. xD Gosh, reading past reviews really gets me writing. So I'll be counting on you guys for reviews plx! Now let the story begin! xD_

**Moonlit Night (part 1)**

The lean figure smiled at the brunette as she said his name. "Bingo," he replied, winking. The two corners of Mikan's mouth curved upwards as she tried to spin around to hug her senpai. However, being unbalanced on the ice, when she spun around, her skates released the grip off the ice, causing her to slip and fall onto her senpai, face front.

"Mikan!" Tsubasa yelled as he reached for her.

BAM!

Every person at the rink turned their heads towards the direction of the loud sound, stopping whatever they were doing or any sounds they were making. Some of them abruptly stopped skating, causing them to fall down as well. Then there was only silence.

The scene that they saw was shocking as well as sweet—or, in another case, it could be counted as a scene to cause jealousy and anger. Mikan's body was laying on her senpai's, her hands clutched onto his clothes. Both from the pair had their eyes wide open with shock, staring at each other with no movement. Mikan's lips were lightly pressed against Tsubasa's who had his arms held around her waist. For lover's, this would possibly be the best position to be in. There was neither movement nor interruption at all. Everything had stopped. It seemed as if time had too. At least until the crashing sound of something being dropped was heard.

The brunette slowly regained her senses after hearing the sound. "S-Sorry," Mikan stuttered, her face blushing madly, as she abruptly pulled away from Tsubasa, only to fall backwards this time due to her unbalanced skates. She squealed softly as she fell, but once again, she didn't crash onto the ground. She was being held by her waist, her back leaning on someone.

"What on earth are you doing, polka-dots?" Mikan could feel the breath of the person lightly brush her head as he spoke. The brunette tried to jerk around—but failed—and remained in the boy's arms.

"I-I-I fell," she stuttered. Tsubasa then got up from his position and stood on his skates again, his face still as red as Mikan's. "S-Sorry, Tsubasa-senpai," she mumbled, still flushed.

"Just give me a sec," said the boy with dark blue hair. He took in a deep breath and rubbed his face with his palms. When he revealed his face again, the redness on his cheeks had faded and replaced with his usual grin and a twinkle in his eyes. "Don't worry about it," he said cheerfully. "Accidents happen all the time," Tsubasa said, adding a wink with his grin.

Seeing her senpai's grin, the brunette felt a warm, calm sensation washing over her. She smiled back at him sweetly. "Mm!" she mumbled.

Natsume twitched slightly with annoyance at the fact the two of them were practically ignoring him. "Oi, polka-dots," he said as he pulled her onto her two feet. "How stupid can you be to create such a scene by not knowing how to skate?"

"Shut up! Pervert!" Mikan retorted and swirled around to grimace at him, but alas, she failed to support herself after turning around, toppling backwards once more. Tsubasa reached out to catch her from behind but Natsume had reached her first. The brunette was in Natsume's strong arms by her waist, her hazel brown eyes staring up into his crimson orbs.

The two of them stared at each other for 10-20 seconds, until Natsume smirked. "You should lose some weight, fatty." He spun her 90 degrees and pushed her forward, making her topple once more. This time, she was in the arms of the blonde boy with turquoise blue eyes, Ruka. "Be careful Ruka, she might break your arms," the raven-haired boy said as he skated away, exiting the rink.

"T-That idiot makes me so mad," Mikan mumbled to herself, forgetting the existence of the boy who had her in his arms.

"M-Mikan?" Ruka called out to her. She twitched, coming back to her senses and looked at the blonde boy.

"O-Oh, sorry," she mumbled as she tried to push herself out of Ruka's arms. However, she couldn't, as Ruka tightened his arms around her. "R-Ruka-pyon?" Mikan stuttered unsurely, her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink as she looked up into his turquoise eyes.

Ruka smiled at her. "It's best you don't do that. You'll fall again," he reminded her. The brunette blushed in embarrassment and nodded in agreement, after realising the amount of times she had almost fallen. When the blonde boy noticed that Mikan wasn't going to escape from his arms, he loosened his grip and repositioned himself. He held onto Mikan's waist with one hand and onto her arm with his other hand. This would make it easier for him to support her to skate. "Shall we?" he asked as he gestured to the side of the rink where a pair of beginner skates lay on the ground.

Mikan nodded. She looked behind at Tsubasa and smiled at him. "A-Arigatou Tsubasa-senpai… And… Umm… I'm sorry about just now," she said.

"It's alright. Just forget about it already," the shadow-manipulator said cheerfully, grinning. "Be careful next time, Mikan!" he winked.

"Mm!" she said as she grinned back. Ruka turned around and hesitantly gave Tsubasa a small nod to acknowledge his existence. Then, he turned around once more, not and sped off with the brunette in his hands. Tsubasa grinned to himself at the fact Ruka was so childish yet mature at the same time and somehow innocent. It was so easy to tell that the blonde boy was disturbed with the accidental kiss which occurred earlier. Well, yes, Tsubasa himself found himself blushing at the incident. However, Ruka's cute innocence could never cease to amuse him.

"Innocent youth," he murmured, a twinkle sparkled in his cheerful eyes.

Ruka glided smoothly through the ice, bringing the unstable brunette with him. The brunette who was being supported by him skated with a slow pace, not trying to impress anyone but merely trying to support herself. Then she looked up at their destination. _The beginner skates… _

The brunette looked up at the blonde boy to ask him if he had seen her accidental kiss with Tsubasa but stopped when she saw the expression on his face. It seemed as if Ruka was staring blankly at nothing His turquoise eyes which were normally sweet and innocent were blank. They etched a trace of sadness and pain in them. Mikan had never seen the blonde boy's eyes like that before. Seeing the boy like that somehow made her feel sad too. She reached out to Ruka's face with her small hand slowly and lightly touched him.

Ruka abruptly stopped skating, his eyes widening and the light returned to them as if he had broken of from a trance. "Ruka?" he heard the voice of the girl he loved. He turned his head towards her, his arms still not releasing her. The brunette was staring up at him with her hazel-brown eyes etched with anxiety. How is it she could look so cute even when she was being anxious?

"Yeah?" he answered as he smiled at her.

"You okay?" Mikan asked, still worried. "If you're sick you have to go rest!"

Ruka shook his head. "I'm fine," he assured her. "I'm just thinking of some stuff."

"Okay," she said cheerfully. "If anything is bothering you, just tell me," she said, grinning. "If it's _someone _bothering you I'll beat him up."

And with that, a part of the blonde boy's feeling of uneasiness washed away. He had felt upset and felt jealousy after witnessing the kiss which occurred between Mikan and her senpai. After all, who wouldn't feel disturbed after seeing the person they loved get kissed by another man? But just by seeing the brunette's smile, he felt a small light lit up inside of him. Just by seeing her smile, he felt slightly better. Not completely—of course not—but still, enough to make him feel better through the night. "Sure," he mumbled. "Anyways let's go get your skates now," he said, smiling.

"Yeah!" she agreed. They skated again together, this time talking and laughing happily—well, at least one of them was 'happy', per say. Soon, they reached their destination and Mikan put on her beginner skates. Soon, Ruka was teaching her how to skate, hand in hand, they slowly skated through the rink.

Outside of the hall, under the moonlit sky, a figure with dark, raven hair stood at the balcony alone, staring at the view below him. The balcony faced a huge field covered with greenery. There were a few trees and a nice, empty field covered by a layer of grass. There were a few cement pathways for people to walk along the field just to take a stroll and avoid the mud—if there was any on rare days. "Tch…" Natsume ruffled his hair and his gaze dropped.

_As Natsume skated slowly by himself, he was thinking of the brunette who had been having weird attitudes ever since she had been rescued from Reo. It didn't __**seem**__ as if something was wrong, but the fire-caster felt uneasy. He could feel as if there was definitely something wrong and it bugged him. Could it be that Mikan was still under—?_

_BAM! _

_A loud sound came from the centre of the rink. Natsume swerved around smoothly and halted to see what all the commotion was. Then he saw it. Mikan was on top of Tsubasa who had his arms around her. __**And their lips were touching.**__ Anger flickered in the raven-haired boy's eyes. He pursed his own lips as he anticipated whether or not he should peel the brunette of her senpai._

_Suddenly, something clattered onto the floor. Natsume snapped his head to the direction of where the sound came from. Ruka… The raven-haired boy looked at his best friend whose face seemed to twist into a sight of pain and sadness. The turquoise-coloured orbs darkened as he watched the scene of his loved one in the arms of another man, kissing. Natsume then affirmed his decision and was about to take the brunette off her senpai but the brunette abruptly pulled away. _

"_S-Sorry," he heard her say, her face completely flushed red, as she moved backwards. She slipped and started to topple backwards. Swiftly, the fire-caster caught her from behind, holding the sides of her waist, allowing her to lean on top of him. He listened to Mikan converse with her senpai, apologising every moment she could and Tsubasa replying. It was rather obvious that the two were in their own world, conversing together and forgetting his existence. Remembering the fact that Ruka was still around, he spoke, reverting the brunette's attention back to himself. _

"_Oi polka-dots, how stupid can you be to create such a scene by not knowing how to skate?"_

"_Shut up! Pervert!" the brunette said as she released herself from him and swirled around. By the looks of it, she was trying to grimace but seemingly failed by toppling once more. Natsume chuckled lightly to himself—not like it was visible to others—and reached out to her, hooking her waist and holding one of her hands. She stared up at him, her innocent hazel-brown eyes emitting a shine as she did so. Natsume had to admit—Mikan looked really cute in her getup tonight. Her hair fell backwards as she was tilting sideways, still in his arms. He continued looking at her innocent brown orbs. She was looking at him and him alone. Right now, the entire world didn't matter to him or her. It was just __**them.**__ No one else was interfering. He stared down at her; his eyes grew soft as he did. When he realised that he had been staring for more than 10 seconds, he regained composure and analyzed his position—Ruka was right there, only a metre apart. Could Ruka have skated here when he didn't realise? Natsume then decided to stop holding on to the girl. After all, his best friend—a boy who loved the brunette who was in his arms—was there. So he did what he always did to annoy her first—smirk. _

"_You should lose some weight, fatty," he said with triumph in his voice. He then spun her around; 90 degrees to his left and pushed her towards his best friend. The brunette fell into Ruka's arms; the boy's turquoise-blue eyes widened when she did. "Be careful Ruka, she might break your arms," Natsume said and started to skate to the exit of the rink. _

They should be alright. After all, Mikan was with Ruka. Natsume wondered if Ruka would still be natural with the brunette after he had seen _that _incident. But after thinking about it, Natsume decided he had done the right thing. Spending time with the brunette should be the one thing that would cheer up the blonde boy, even if it was only a little. Then, the raven-haired boy just stared into the distance, deep in his thoughts.

Back in the hall, the brunette and the blonde boy had stopped skating and were eating at one of the round tables covered in white-coloured satin sheet which fell to the floor. They were sitting with Sumire, Koko, Hotaru, Kitsuneme, Yuu, Anna, Nonoko and a few others. Mikan was sitting in between Ruka and Hotaru. Ruka had Anna on his other side. There were loads of delights they could take from the buffet; turkey, potato gratin, jelly, sushi, juices, chocolate, pies and so much more! Mikan's eyes were sparkled as she ate her dish—one of the best meals she could ever had! She had a lot on her plate; turkey covered in gravy, mashed potatoes, buttered peas and that was only her first course! Whilst Hotaru on the other hand had… Crabs.

"Mikan-chan! Mikan-chan!" Anna called as she looked at Mikan expectantly, her eyes shining.

"Yeah?" the brunette replied cheerfully as she took a sip of her water.

"I saw you kissing Tsubasa-senpai!" she squealed. "What did it feel like?" Nonoko joined in, squealing as well. Hotaru noticed Ruka's eyes darkened slightly at the mention of the kiss. The guys got slightly tense, realising that Ruka had witnessed it as well. They felt pity for him and looked at him anxiously.

"Hmm?" Mikan looked at the blankly, still eating her food. "I've already forgotten something like that," she said bluntly. "It was just an accident, after all. Tsubasa-senpai also told me to forget about it." She grinned at the two.

"Eh…?" the two of them just stared at Mikan who continued eating. Even the rest at the table were gawking at her, shocked at her bluntness. (e.g. O_O) Then, Ruka broke the silence by laughing.

"Hahaha," he chuckled lightly. Oh, how the brunette was hilarious. Just a few moments ago he felt hurt by seeing her accidentally kiss another man; and yet, she just said she had forgotten about the kiss. It made him feel much better to know that she didn't really take that kiss as a proper one. How she could make him feel so simply calmed by her words was a mystery.

"Ruka-pyon?" the brunette looked at him, puzzled.

"No, it's nothing," he said, as the two corners of his mouth rose and reached to his eyes for the first time after they had gotten out of the skating rink. His smile seemed so perfect and made him look ravishingly handsome that it made the brunette blush lightly at the sight of it. But she soon smiled back, happy to see the animal-lover back into happiness.

The guys around the table started to have playful evil grins around as they watched them. "Ruka~" they chorused together, making Ruka flinch. The blonde boy looked at their evil grins and sweat-dropped. Trying to avoid them, he continued eating. "You naughty boy~" They started pouncing on him as Mikan turned away and started talking to Hotaru.

"Hotaru~" Mikan chorused. The inventor just stared at her blankly and continued eating her crabs. "You're pretty today, Hotaru," Mikan said as she smiled sweetly. Hotaru was wearing a purple dress and had a purple ribbon tied as a hair band on her smooth, black hair. She looked like a doll, and looked undoubtedly pretty.

"Only today?" Hotaru asked with flames in her eyes and a baka gun in her arm.

"N-No!" Mikan stuttered, panicked. "You look pretty all the time, Hotaru!" Hotaru shot out a fist at Mikan, causing the brunette to wince. When the brunette didn't feel anything, she looked straight at Hotaru, only to receive a light tap on her forehead from Hotaru's fingers.

"Baka," the inventor said, "you look really cute today too." After hearing her best friend's words, the brunette's face brightened up with happiness.

"Arigatou, Hotaru!" she said as she hugged her best friend from the side. Hotaru's lips curved slightly upwards as her eyes softened but she didn't stop eating her crabs.

"Hey, you guys!" a voice called from behind them. The brunette turned around and her face lit up.

"Narumi-sensei!" she cheered. The blonde teacher smiled, grabbed a chair, pushed it in between Ruka and Anna, sat there and waved at the group. The rest of the guys returned to their seats and sat there, annoyed at the fact Narumi had disturbed their 'bully-innocent-and-cute-Ruka-game'.

"So are you guys enjoying the party?" he asked them.

"Yeah!" they all replied in unison.

"Good, good," Narumi smiled. Then he turned around and saw another teacher waving at him. "Oh, will you excuse me for a second," he said as he slipped out of his chair. "Ruka-kun, would you mind taking care of my drink for a while?" he asked as he placed a cup containing golden-coloured liquid towards the animal-lover.

"O-Okay," Ruka replied unsurely, taking the cup.

The group just stared at the teacher who went to go flirt with another victim of his pheromones but they soon lost interest and started talking among each other once more. The boys started teasing Ruka once more, grinning evilly—it was really fun to tease the blonde boy.

Mikan fooled around with Hotaru whilst Anna, Yuu and Nonoko were talking about some potions they had tried making together which resulted in a disaster at the school lab. Sumire was bragging about her looks that night—she had gone through all the trouble of straightening her hair. Ruka on the other hand… He was still being a victim of all the boys, his face playing different shades of red every now and then. Eventually, even the kind, innocent boy couldn't take it.

"S-Stop it!" Ruka finally snapped. "Geez, each and every one of you!" He said, frustrated. He took a swing out of the cup he had in his hands, distracting himself from the boys who kept teasing him. Accidentally, he drank the entire cup full. After he slammed the cup down onto the table—which kept everyone at the table silent—he started going a bit red.

"H-Hey, Ruka, we were only joking," Kitsuneme tried to explain. "You don't have to be _that _embarrassed…"

It was no use. The blonde boy wasn't listening. His face just became redder and redder. "R-Ruka? Are you okay?" Anna asked.

No reply. He was covering his face in his hands now, as if washing something off. "Ruka?"

"Ruka-kun?"

"Ruka?"

"Ruka-chaann??"

And it kept going on and on but he didn't budge.

"Ruka-pyon?" the brunette called out. Until _she_ called. Slowly, the blonde boy unmasked his face, revealing a completely red face which had groggy-looking eyes. He turned towards the brunette.

"Miii-kan?" he mumbled. He seemed to hic slightly as he smiled at her. His movements were dull and he was swaying slightly.

Mikan looked at him, slightly puzzled as she sweat-dropped. "R-Ruka-pyon?"

"Mikan," he murmured. "It's not fair if you kiss other guys you know?" The blonde boy swung his arms around her shoulders and drew in closer. Their faces were merely inches apart. Mikan's face flared up but wasn't as red as Ruka's face.

"R-Ruka-pyon?!" she exclaimed softly.

"I—too…" he murmured as he leaned in. He shut his eyes and their lips touched. Mikan felt Ruka's soft, warm lips placed gently onto hers as he tightened his arms around her. She froze, shocked, and yet she could still feel her senses. Ruka's arms held her tightly—not suffocating tightness—but tightly as if he was protecting her. His arms were warm; his lips were warm, heck! His entire body was warm! But Mikan's senses were mostly focused on one spot—her lips. Then, Ruka broke of the kiss, breathing deeply. His breath blew onto her lips, warm and moist. By the time he was done kissing her, Mikan was already deep red. Ruka moaned softly and hugged her by her waist, slowly dropping down onto her lap. "Mikan," he murmured as he nuzzled his head onto her lap. The group who had witnessed the entire scene gawked at the pair, shocked at the fact Ruka was suddenly so daring.

"Hey, pass me that cup," Hotaru finally said.

"O-Oh. Okay," Anna replied as she passed the cup to Hotaru. The inventor took a whiff at the cup and shook her head.

"Ah," Hotaru exclaimed.

"What is it?" Sumire asked.

"Alcohol."

Silence engulfed the group. "So he's drunk?" Nonoko asked.

"Yeah."

The entire group sweat-dropped—except for Mikan who already had enough on her hands.

This was going to be one hell of a night.

_Okay, well, there's going to be a continuance of the night of course. I mean, how could I leave it like that when Ruka is drunk? xD I'm going to be having fun writing about a cute, drunk Ruka. Look forward to the next chappie. And please remember to review! Xx. Aya._


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